While the GOP Presidential contenders prepare for primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington, D.C., candidate Mitt Romney garners key endorsements from Senator Rob Johnson and Congressman Paul Ryan. Is the Republican Party finally coalescing around their presumptive nominee? Back in Washington, President Obama is set to sign the STOCK Act and the JOBS Act on Monday, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics prepares to release job numbers for March on Friday. What does this mean for the future of the economy? Charlie Herman, business and economics editor for The Takeaway and WNYC and Molly Ball, staff writer covering national politics for The Atlantic, explore the stories for the week ahead.

Despite growing up in Detroit — and Rick Santorum's anti-bailout speech to the Detroit Economic club — the most recent polls from Michigan have Mitt Romney trailing Santorum by an average of six points. Romney has tried to curb Santorum's upswell by outspending him three to one in advertising. Given the indecisiveness of the race thus far, whether or not Romney takes Michigan could be a turning point in the nomination.

Mitt Romney lost the New Hampshire GOP primary to John McCain in 2008, but he's hoping 2012's primary will be different. Romney received a key endorsement from the granite state's former governor, John H. Sununu. New Hampshire will hold the first presidential primary in the nation in January after the Iowa caucuses. While Romney continues to be the front runner in the GOP race, support for the former Massachusetts governor remains tepid at best. With a history of modified positions and the albatross of "Romneycare," the Massachusetts health care reform legislation that served as a model for President Obama's health care reform, hanging around his neck, many in the GOP base question Romney's conservatism.

Republican presidential hopefuls debated last night in New Hampshire, one of the early states that is important to win in the primaries along with Iowa. The two states are the first to hold presidential contests. The influence of Iowa and New Hampshire have made candidates pander to those states' needs, which can be markedly different than the needs of the majority of the United States. David Leonhardt, economics columnist for The New York Times explains.

Though the headlines this morning say the Tea Party won big last night, that narrative discounts the fact that those candidates aren't likely to win in the general election in November. So what do yesterday's primaries say about the nation's political climate?

Jeff Zeleny, national political correspondent for The New York Times, explains what the results from these state-wide races can tell us about the national political picture or whether they hinged on local issues.

Republican primary voters in Delaware faced a much-hyped choice at the polls yesterday, and ultimately voted for Tea Party-endorsed Christine O'Donnell over moderate long-term Delaware Rep. Mike Castle. The state Republican party campaigned hard against O’Donnell, saying she is likely to lose against a Democrat in the general election. The outcome could have big consequences for which party will occupy Vice President Biden’s place in the Senate.

Five more states have nominated party candidates for November’s mid term elections.  

Republicans, Democrats, Independents and Tea Partiers were all in serious contention in last night’s primaries. Whether or not you live in one of the states that held a primary last night, the elections may still impact you.  Smart politicians adapt quickly; the lessons learned tonight, they will likely carry with them to November's election. Moreover, the issues that affected those statewide elections may also be playing out in your state as well.

The results are in for the Sunshine State's most expensive and, arguably, nastiest primary in history.  

Voters will be heading to the polls to cast their votes in Arizona's primaries tomorrow. We'll finally get a look at how voters feel about Gov. Jan Brewer as she seeks re-election. The governor has been closely watched since she signed the controversial immigration bill, SB-1070 into law. After she signed the immigration bill, her poll numbers sky-rocketed, according to Mark Brodie, reporter and host at KJZZ in Arizona. And he does not see this primary being a problem for her. He also does not predict any problems for Sen. John McCain, who will likely face his toughest challenge on the road to re-election.

On Tuesday, Florida's voters head to the polls to vote in primaries for U.S. Senate and governor. Sergio Bustos, state politics editor at The Miami Herald, and Kate Zernike, reporter for our partner The New York Times, describe how the races have been shaping up and what we can expect on Tuesday. Plus, we'll find out what the Sunshine State can tell us about the national political mood.

Voters in Colorado and Connecticut head to the polls today to vote in primary elections. In Colorado, incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, who was endorsed by President Obama, is facing a surprisingly hard primary battle. A loss could bring insight into how voters feel about Washington and President Obama. Kirk Johnson, Denver bureau chief for The New York Times, joins us with the latest from the Centennial State.

Tennessee held Republican primaries for governor yesterday, along with a number of House primaries. The race for governor got national attention last month when Tennessee's Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey made controversial remarks about Islam in a video later published on YouTube. 

"Now, you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, a cult, whatever you want to call it," he continued. "But certainly we do protect our religions, but at the same time, this is something we are going to have to face."

It may seem like a distant memory, but back in 2008, the story of the Democratic presidential primary was the rise of a relative newcomer to Washington taking on the party establishment with grassroots organizing. It was a winning strategy for then-candidate Barack Obama in Colorado, where he earned more than two-thirds of the primary votes and defeated Hillary Clinton. 

In Colorado’s Democratic Senate primary this year, there’s another candidate campaigning as an outsider, but the establishment narrative is flipped. This time, the political newcomer is the incumbent, and the challenger is a mainstay of Colorado politics.

Voters in Utah, South Carolina, and North Carolina will head to the polls for a few final runoffs and primary elections. In Utah, incumbent, three-term Senator Bob Bennett was knocked out at the Utah GOP convention in May, and now two Tea Party candidates will face off against each other.

The Tea Party also looms large in the runoff for the Republican gubernatorial primary in South Carolina. There, Tea Party favorite and Sarah Palin pal Nikki Haley is leading over opponent Gresham Barrett, despite accusations of sex scandals and racial controversies. If elected, Haley, a Punjabi Sikh who converted to Methodism, would be South Carolina's first governor who isn't a white man.

With all of the attention poured on California's primaries for Senate and governor, you may have missed an even bigger vote that passed in the Sunshine State: 54 percent of California voters passed Proposition 14. Known as “the open-primary initiative,” Prop 14 will essentially do away with party-specific primaries, starting with the 2012 elections. All political candidates will run in a single primary; the two who receive the most votes will run against each other in the general election.

Yesterday was the biggest primary day of the year so far, with closely watched races in California, Arkansas, South Carolina, New Jersey, Iowa, and Maine, among other states. The coast-to-coast campaigns for governors, Senate and House seats showed the strength of the Tea Party as well as the well-known power of money.

We take a closer look at races across the country. In California, Carly Fiorina beat out Congressman Tom Campbell for the Republican nomination and will now face Senator Barbara Boxer in the fall. A GOP victory would mark the first time California has sent a Republican to the Senate since 1988. In that state's governor's race, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman secured the Republican nomination and will go on to challenge Democrat Jerry Brown in the fall.

John Myers, State House Bureau Chief for KQED reports on California's results; headlines.

Last night, voters decided the party candidates in four closely watched states: Arkansas, California, Nevada, and South Carolina and seven others. But for many candidates the election battle is only just beginning. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich looks at how the primary winners will fare in November's ballot. Sharron Angle's win in Nevada is both a victory for the Tea Party and for Harry Reid, who has been preparing to face-off against the conservative candidate.

In the latest test of the power of party establishments and anti-incumbent fervor, eleven states held primary races last night. In Arkansas, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln narrowly defeated a challenge from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who had the support of organized labor. In California, two female former CEO's won commanding victories. Former eBay CEO, Meg Whitman took the Republican gubernatorial primary against Steve Poizner, the state's insurance commissioner. Whitman will go on to challenge Jerry Brown, the current state attorney general and former governor. And in California's Senate primary, former Hewlett-Packard CEO, Carly Fiorina won against former Congressman Tom Campbell. Fiorina will face Sen. Barbara Boxer in the fall. California has not sent a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 1988.

KUAR reporter Michael Hibblen on Blanche Lincoln's win in Arkansas; headlines.