Ed Cox (Photo: Patrick McMullan)

Now that Rick Santorum has officially ended his presidential campaign, there will be even less than expected at stake in New York's presidential primary April 24. New York Republican Party chairman Ed Cox responded to the news of Mr. Santorum's departure in an interview with The Journal News' Politics on the Hudson blog by saying New York will remain important to presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney even though it doesn't occupy a contested spot on the electoral map.

"New York is going to be very important to his campaign, not because we are a swing state with respect to our electoral votes, but because this is where the financial center with the money is, this is the media center of the United States where the media is, and this is the center for many ethnic groups," Mr. Cox said. "So, New York going forward--as I learned as chairman of the McCain campaign--is going to be the most important non-swing state here among the 50 states."

Even prior to Mr. Santorum's departure, New York's Republican primary didn't seem to be up for grabs. In a presidential poll released this morning, Mr. Romney was beating Mr. Santorum by 33 points among Republican voters in New York.

In his interview with Politics on the Hudson, Mr. Cox credited Mr. Romney's focus on the economy "really trumped Rick Santorum’s emphasis with respect to social values" in New York.

"We’re all going to be working hard for Mitt Romney to be the next president of the United States," Mr. Cox said.