Santorum Turns Republican Presidential Race on its Head
Feb. 8, 2012
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum stunned his three competitors for the Republican presidential nomination by winning the Colorado and Minnesota caucuses and the Missouri primary on February 7.
In Minnesota, Santorum took 44.8 percent of the vote, compared with Texas Congressman Ron Paul’s 27 percent and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s 16.9 percent. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich came in fourth with 10.7 percent.
Santorum won the Missouri primary with 55 percent of the vote, well ahead of Romney’s 25 percent and Paul’s 12 percent. Gingrich was not on the ballot in Missouri.
Former Senator Richard J. Santorum won Republican presidential primaries in Colorado, Minnesota, and Minneapolis. U.S. Senate
The vote was closer in Colorado. Santorum polled 40 percent, and Romney finished with nearly 35 percent. Gingrich and Paul took 12.8 percent and 11.8 percent, respectively.
Political experts again raised the question about the supposed front-runner–Mitt Romney: Will a candidate from Massachusetts who was once considered a political moderate ever be an acceptable standard-bearer for a Republican Party increasingly dominated by highly conservative tea party activists and evangelical Christians?
