(left) Mitt Romney with his wife Ann in Boston on Super Tuesday; (right) Rick Santorum speaks at his Super Tuesday primary night rally in Steubenville, Ohio. (Photos: (left) REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi, (right) REUTERS/Jim Young)
Election 2012: A Super Tuesday Split
Romney and Santorum victories set stage for long primary battle
UPDATE: Wednesday, 2:00 p.m. — Mitt Romney was declared the winner of the Ohio primary earlier today. He won with 37.9 percent of the vote, followed by Rick Santorum with 37.1 percent. Unofficially, only 10,284 votes separated the candidates
Newt Gingrich finished third with 14.6 percent, and Ron Paul a distant fourth with 9.2 percent.
Eleven states — or one-fifth of the United States — went to the polls yesterday to vote in the Republican primary. And at the end of Super Tuesday, only one thing is clear: it’s going to be a long race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Mitt Romney has been the presumptive frontrunner throughout the election. His campaign hoped to seal up the nomination with big wins on Super Tuesday. He won the majority of the 437 delegates up for grabs, but he was upset in key races by Rick Santorum.
Romney won Alaska, Idaho, Vermont, Virginia, and his home state of Massachusetts. Santorum, meanwhile, won Tennessee, North Dakota, and Oklahoma. Newt Gingrich won his home state of Georgia. Ron Paul was shut out.
But the big story was Ohio. Ohio was considered the most important state voting on Super Tuesday. According to analysts, the candidate who won Ohio had the best chance of winning the nomination.
Romney and Santorum traded leads in Ohio all night. And as of Wednesday morning, only 12,019 votes separated Romney and Santorum in Ohio. Officially, it makes the race still too close to call.
Both candidates held Super Tuesday parties last night, and both declared Super Tuesday a victory for their campaigns.
"I stand ready to lead our party," Romney told his supporters in Boston. "And I stand ready to lead our nation to prosperity."
"We've run races all over the country, against the odds," Santorum told his supporters in Steubenville, Ohio. "When people think we're finished, we keep coming back. We're in this thing."
Despite winning only one contest, Gingrich saw hope for his campaign. At his Super Tuesday party in Atlanta, he set himself apart from his Republican rivals by using an interesting analogy.
"There are a lot of bunny rabbits that run through," Gingrich said. "I am the tortoise. I just take one step at a time.
Ron Paul finished third or fourth in most of the Super Tuesday races. But he also refused to give up on his presidential hopes.
In the end, Super Tuesday didn’t settle the Republican nomination. It just set the stage for a long primary battle between four committed candidates.
Here is the complete list of Super Tuesday results. The states marked with an asterix are still counting their votes. This list will be updated as more results come in.
Alaska: Georgia:
Mitt Romney — 33 percent Newt Gingrich — 47 percent
Rick Santorum — 29 percent Mitt Romney — 26 percent
Ron Paul — 24 percent Rick Santorum — 20 percent
Newt Gingrich — 14 percent Ron Paul — 6 percent
Idaho: Massachusetts:
Mitt Romney — 62 percent Mitt Romney — 72 percent
Rick Santorum — 18 percent Rick Santorum — 12 percent
Ron Paul — 18 percent Ron Paul — 10 percent
Newt Gingrich — 2 percent Newt Gingrich — 5 percent
North Dakota: Ohio:
Rick Santorum — 40 percent Mitt Romney — 37.9 percent
Ron Paul — 28 percent Rick Santorum — 37.1 percent
Mitt Romney — 24 percent Newt Gingrich — 14 percent
Newt Gingrich — 8 percent Ron Paul — 9 percent
Oklahoma: Tennessee:
Rick Santorum — 34 percent Rick Santorum — 37 percent
Mitt Romney — 28 percent Mitt Romney — 28 percent
Newt Gingrich — 27 percent Newt Gingrich — 24 percent
Ron Paul — 10 percent Ron Paul — 9 percent
Vermont: Virginia:
Mitt Romney — 40 percent Mitt Romney — 60 percent
Ron Paul — 25 percent Ron Paul — 40 percent
Rick Santorum — 24 percent
Newt Gingrich — 8 percent
*Wyoming:
Mitt Romney — 56 percent
Rick Santorum — 30 percent
Ron Paul — 2 percent
Newt Gingrich — 0 percent
The Scholastic News Kids Press Corps is on the campaign trail. Kid Reporters are covering Super Tuesday from five states. Check out the Super Tuesday Special Report for their stories.
ELECTION 2012
Scholastic News Kid Reporters are on the campaign trail! Keep up with latest election news on the Election 2012 website.
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