• INTERACTIVE: County-by-county breakdown of the results
• Late, late, late deciders flock to Santorum
• Romney’s watchwords in Iowa: Divide and conquer
• Obama calls Iowa on GOP’s caucus night
• Iowa deadlock could change race in New Hampshire
• Santorum ‘committed’ to competing in N.H., S.C.
• Ron Paul benefits from Democrat crossovers
DES MOINES, Iowa — Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum validated his sudden, 11th-hour surge in Iowa on Tuesday with a strong showing in the caucuses that at least temporarily position him as conservatives’ No. 1 alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
Iowans cast the first votes of the 2012 presidential campaign in caucus meetings throughout the state, almost evenly dividing themselves among three candidates — former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Throughout the night, the three contenders shifted places, with Romney and Santorum in a photo finish.
Officials reported about 2:30 a.m. that Romney recorded 30,015 votes, while Santorum had 30,007 — an eight-vote win for Romney.
For Santorum, the evening was his first of the campaign to shine. Short on money and stuck in single digit poll numbers, Santorum spent almost the entire campaign in Iowa, travelling to all 99 counties. That kind of retail politicking clearly won over Iowans, particularly evangelicals, who turned out in droves for the former senator from Pennsylvania.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich finished the night at a distant fourth place, ahead of Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who finished in sixth place despite having won the Iowa straw poll in August.
The race will continue to New Hampshire, where Romney is leading in the polls and Santorum barely has an organization. Gingrich is hoping for a resurgence in the Granite State, evidenced by an e-mail he sent to supporters Tuesday night depicting it as a two-horse race between Gingrich, a “bold conservative,” and Romney, a “timid Massachusetts moderate.”
Bachmann, meanwhile, acutely aware of Romney’s lead in New Hampshire, will leave Iowa and head straight to South Carolina, the second primary state. Perry said late Tuesday he would return home “to determine whether there is a path forward” for his White House bid.
Many Iowans were still undecided about who they would support as they headed out to vote, and the candidates spent Tuesday crisscrossing the state to rally those voters to their camp.
Santorum called Paul “disgusting” for putting out automated calls to voters that questioned Santorum’s stance on abortion and guns. Santorum also questioned Romney’s conservative credentials and said the former Massachusetts governor’s experience in the private sector doesn’t qualify him for the White House.
Gingrich, meanwhile, lashed out at Romney, calling him a liar on CBS News and accusing him of misstating his own record and twisting the records of his rivals.
“He’s not telling the American people the truth,” Gingrich said. “It’s just like his pretense that he’s a conservative.”
Appearing downtrodden and exhausted, Gingrich conceded defeat even before the first ballots were cast.
“I don’t think I’m going to win [Iowa],” he told reporters.
In another pre-caucus concession, Paul told reporters that he doesn’t see himself making it to the Oval Office. The odds are stacked against him, he said.
Unlike some of his rivals, Romney held back from taking any swings at his Republican opponents on Tuesday and instead aimed his attacks solely on President Obama.
Romney also tamped down expectations for a strong finish in Iowa, telling MSNBC he expects to finish “among the top group” a mere 24 hours after he told a rally: “We’re going to win this thing.”
