Tuesday Results Put Rick Santorum Back In The Republican Presidential Race

The Republican race for the presidential nomination has been a very wild ride this year, even though only seven states have picked their delegates. Rick Santorum won Iowa with only a razor thin margin over Mitt Romney. But after Romney won big in New Hampshire, many pundits gave him the tag of the "inevitable" winner of the race. But he lost that tag in the very next state, as Newt Gingrich beat him soundly in South Carolina.

Romney got his mojo back after winning big in the following two states -- Florida and Nevada. Once again he was crowned by many as the "inevitable" winner of the nomination. It only took three days for him to once again lose that crown. It seems that the political pundits once again underestimated the determination of the anti-Romney voters in the party. They may have fumbled around for a few days after Gingrich fell from grace in Florida, but it looks like they may have a new champion now -- Rick Santorum.

I say that because Santorum had a huge night last night. It started in the "beauty contest" primary in Missouri. No delegates were awarded in that primary, but Santorum won it big -- getting more votes than all of his opponents put together. When Missouri does get around to choosing delegates, Santorum could do quite well there. Here is how the Missouri primary came out with 99% of precincts reporting:

MISSOURI PRIMARY
Rick Santorum...............138,681  (55.17%)
Mitt Romney...............63,709  (25.34%)
Ron Paul...............30,584  (12.17%)
Uncommitted...............9,841  (3.91%)
Rick Perry...............2,454  (0.98%)
Herman Cain...............2,309  (0.92%)
Michele Bachmann...............1,686  (0.67%)
Jon Huntsmann...............1,044  (0.42%)
Gary Johnson...............547  (0.22%)
Michael Meehan...............362  (0.14%)
Keith Drummond...............162  (0.06%)
TOTAL VOTES...............251,379
(Gingrich was not on the Missouri ballot.)

Santorum then went on to win the caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota. he had led in the Minnesota polls, but surprised Romney in Colorado (since Romney had led the polls in that state). Here are the numbers from Colorado and Minnesota:

COLORADO CAUCUS (99% of precincts reporting)
Rick Santorum...............26,354  (40.24%)
Mitt Romney...............22,855  (34.90%)
Newt Gingrich...............8,390  (12.81%)
Ron Paul...............7,708  (11.77%)
Rick Perry...............52  (0.08%)
Jon Huntsman...............46  (0.07%)
Michele Bachmann...............27  (0.04%)
Others...............57  (0.09%)
TOTAL VOTE...............65,489

MINNESOTA CAUCUS (93% of precincts reporting)
Rick Santorum...............21,420  (44.94)
Ron Paul...............13,023  (27.32%)
Mitt Romney...............8,090  (16.97%)
Newt Gingrich...............5,128  (10.76%)
TOTAL VOTES...............47,661