U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum Tuesday won the Alabama and Mississippi primaries, sweeping the "Southern Super Tuesday."
U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum was projected by CNN as winner of the Alabama and Mississippi primaries, sweeping the "Southern Super Tuesday." [Xinhua] |
In Mississippi, with 99 percent of the vote counted, the former Pennsylvania senator won 33 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was at 31%, Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at 30 percent and Texas congressman Ron Paul at 4 percent.
And in Alabama, with 99 percent of the vote counted, Santorum won 35 percent, followed by Gingrich and Romney with 29 percent each and Paul with 5 percent.
The pair of primaries were seen as high-stakes contests for all the four major GOP White House contenders, and were expected to provide some clarity that last week's Super Tuesday failed to deliver.
The double wins could give Santorum some new momentum and cast doubts on front-runner Romney's ability to close the deal of the nomination race.
Romney still leads the delegate count, but both Santorum and Gingrich claimed Tuesday's results once again shattered the "inevitability" argument of the Romney campaign.
Seizing the opportunity to rally the party's conservative base behind him, Santorum called on supporters to gather around "one conservative who can beat President Barack Obama in the fall."
With no candidate indicating an exit, the field of the GOP presidential nomination race haven't been narrowed after "Southern Super Tuesday."
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