North Dakota adds to Santorum wins; Ohio still too close

By William M. Welch, USA TODAYUpdated 10m ago Comments

North Dakota's caucuses went to Rick Santorum Tuesday night as he and Mitt Romney each swept three states in 10 Super Tuesday contests, the biggest day of the fierce GOP nomination struggle thus far.

Santorum and Romney were locked in a close battle for crucial Ohio. Santorum held a narrow lead with over two-thirds of the precincts reporting.

Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, defeated his rivals in GOP primaries in Tennessee and Oklahoma. Romney won primaries in his home of Massachusetts, neighboring Vermont, and Virginia, where only he and Ron Paul were on the ballot.

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Newt Gingrich easily won the primary in his one-time home state of Georgia.

"It looks like we're going to get a couple of gold medals and a whole passel of silver medals," Santorum told cheering supporters in Steubenville, Ohio. He acknowledged the results in that state were "still too close to call."

Romney, speaking to supporters in Boston before the Ohio results were known, said he was looking forward to taking on President Obama as the GOP nominee even though Santorum's strong showing seemed to assure that the hard-fought GOP nomination race will continue.

"There are three states under our belt tonight, and counting. We're going to get more before this night is over," Romney said. "We're counting down the days to November, and that looks even better."

The candidates were vying for more than 400 nominating delegates at stake in the contests, which offered Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, the opportunity to solidify his role as front-runner in one of the most volatile GOP presidential nomination races ever.

Gingrich, the former House speaker, and Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, were battling to keep their presidential hopes alive, and Gingrich badly needed his Georgia victory to continue in the race. The fourth candidate, libertarian-leaning Paul, a congressman from Texas, was hoping to score a first win in three western and midwestern states holding caucuses.

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Gingrich represented a Georgia district in Congress for two decades. He had the backing of the state's party establishment, including the endorsements of Gov. Nathan Deal, a former House member who served with Gingrich, and one-time presidential hopeful and pizza company executive Herman Cain.

All eyes were on Ohio, the battleground state that could be pivotal in the general election: No Republican president in modern times has been elected without carrying Ohio.

Santorum was hoping to capitalize in the big-population state with heavy industry as a next-door neighbor from western Pennsylvania, which shares rust-belt characteristics with much of Ohio.

Georgia actually had the most delegates to be awarded, 76, to Ohio's 66. Gingrich focused his attention there, though he now lives in Virginia.

In Virginia, only Romney and Paul submitted enough signatures to qualify for the presidential primary ballot.

There were caucuses in Alaska, Idaho and North Dakota. Because of their lower turnout and the importance of local organizing operations in smaller caucus states, Paul had focused most of his attention there.

Santorum's win in Tennessee reflected his emphasis on religion and social issues, an appeal to Bible Belt voters, while Romney ran second. In Oklahoma, where Santorum also won, Romney and Gingrich were battling for second place.

All were vying for the chance to be the Republican Party's standard bearer in the November general election against President Obama, who faces no opposition for Democratic Party renomination.

With Ohio looming large in the Super Tuesday lineup, Jean Rauschenberg, 41, a stay-at-home mom and registered Republican from Bexley, Ohio, said she voted for Romney.

"Of the Republican candidates, I find Mitt is the closest to what I believe," she said. But in the general election, she said, she would likely support President Obama.

"I definitely have Democratic leanings," Rauschenberg said.

Textbook editor Heather Froelich, voting outside Columbus, gave her support to Romney, saying, "He understands the economy."

In many places, enthusiasm was in short supply among those casting ballots.

Gingrich got a reluctant vote from Tricia Tetrault in Edmond, Okla., where she explained her decision this way: "Ronald Reagan wasn't available any more. What can I say?"

Santorum got the support of contractor Matt Howells in suburban Cleveland, but Howells didn't think his ballot would count for much.

"I really don't see a Republican winning the White House," he said.

With 437 delegates at stake in 10 states, Tuesday's voting represents a sizable slice of the 1,144 needed to nail down the GOP nomination. Wyoming caucuses, not considered part of Super Tuesday, began Tuesday and end Saturday.

Going into the Super Tuesday contests, Romney, who turned back Santorum in a close race in Michigan last week, had won four consecutive delegate contests, including Saturday's Washington caucuses.

After falling behind Santorum in Ohio in polls last month, Romney closed the gap in recent days, with polls showing the race a dead heat on the eve of the primary. It's a familiar trend for Romney, whose superior fundraising and voter-turnout operations have helped him turn deficits in Florida and Michigan into triumphs.

North Dakota adds to Santorum wins; Ohio still too close