Wyoming caucuses straw poll goes to Mitt Romney

By Paul West
March 1, 2012, 7:29 a.m.
Reporting from Chamblee, Ga.—

Mitt Romney has won the Wyoming caucus straw poll, according to the state Republican Party in Casper.

The former Massachusetts governor received 39% to Rick Santorum's 32%. Ron Paul was next at 21% and Newt Gingrich got 8%.

The results, compiled during a series of precinct caucuses, are non-binding but will have an impact on the selection of at-large delegates at the state convention in April. The selection of the first 12 Wyoming delegates to the Tampa convention will begin on Super Tuesday at county conventions, which take place over several days. Details of the process are on Josh Putnam's FrontloadingHQ site.

Wyoming has a total of 29 delegates. What all of this means is that Romney is likely to wind up with more of those delegates than any of his rivals, but the exact division remains to be determined.

A delegate projection by RealClearPolitics guesses that Romney will get 10 of the Wyoming delegates, followed by Santorum with 8, Paul 6, and Gingrich 1.

Paul.West@latimes.com

Mitt Romney wins Wyoming caucuses straw poll - latimes.com