• INTERACTIVE: County-by-county breakdown of the results
• Romney, Santorum in Iowa photo finish
• Late, late, late deciders flock to Santorum
• Romney’s watchwords in Iowa: Divide and conquer
• Obama calls Iowa on GOP’s caucus night
• Santorum ‘committed’ to competing in N.H., S.C.
• Ron Paul benefits from Democrat crossovers
BEDFORD, N.H. – The dead heat in Iowa among Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum has turned next week’s New Hampshire primary from a victory lap for Romney into a contest that has intriguing possibilities for all three top-tier candidates.
“This certainly makes New Hampshire look a little more interesting than it did 24 hours ago,” University of New Hampshire political science professor Dante Scala said.
New Hampshire GOP strategist Mike Dennehy said the Iowa results appeared to boost Romney, who had initially planned to put less emphasis on Iowa and jumped in only at the last minute.
“Romney’s good performance solidifies his position as the front-runner and the overwhelming favorite to win the nomination,” Dennehy said, predicting a 15-point victory for the former Massachusetts governor in New Hampshire.
But other candidates also took heart from the Iowa deadlock. By late Tuesday evening, a packed Santorum headquarters in Bedford, N.H., was cheering the latest results showing Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, tied with Romney, with 24 percent of the vote, and leading Paul, a Texas congressman, by 2 points. News crews and reporters crowded the office, reflecting a sudden level of interest in a campaign.
“Welcome to the party,” an excited Santorum staffer gushed to a CBS News photographer.
Santorum volunteers said his surge in Iowa has spread to New Hampshire. “People kept saying he’s not electable,” volunteer Marcia Kostoulakos said. “We kept saying, yes he is.”
But Santorum would have an uphill climb in New Hampshire, where the most recent poll shows him at 5 percent, compared with 43 percent for Romney, 17 percent for Paul, 9 percent for former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and 8 percent for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The candidates will storm New Hampshire beginning Wednesday, with most scheduling multiple appearances across the state.
Scala said Santorum’s strong finish in Iowa could earn him a second look in New Hampshire, where he has spent a lot of time campaigning and has a decent ground game. “I suspect you could see Santorum moving up as a result of this and challenging one of the money positions in New Hampshire,” Scala said.
