Former Georgia congressman and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has won the primary in his home state – Georgia.
Gingrich, who won the primary with 47% of the vote, had been leading in Georgia polls since the race began and had a commanding 20 percent lead going into the primary, according to Real Clear Politics averages.
Mitt Romney, Gingrich’s closest contender, received roughly 25% and Rick Santorum, despite a surge earlier in the month, won roughly 20% of the vote. Ron Paul trailed with a mere 6.5%.
Gingrich had been the heavy favorite since the primary process began, Santorum could have done well in Georgia had he committed necessary resources. Instead, Santorum focused his efforts in Ohio, Tennesse and Oklahoma, not setting foot in the Peach State in the past week.
Gingrich, on the other hand, focused almost all of his energy on Georgia, making dozens of appearances within the state. Clearly, he wanted to win Georgia and win it big. His strategy appears to have worked, as polling showed Gingrich’s numbers steadily increasing before his Super Tuesday victory.
Delegate Allocation
The way the Republican Party of Georgia chose to allocate their 76 delegates is a little more complicated than most primaries this season.
42 of the delegates will be allocated by congressional district. The winner of each of the 14 congressional districts will receive two delegates. The runner-up will receive one delegate. However, there is a catch. If a candidate garners a majority (50.001%) of the votes in a congressional district, they will receive all 3 delegates.
There are 31 at-large delegates., allocated proportionally based on the statewide vote. Candidates receiving less than 20% of the vote will not receive any delegates.
The remaining three are considered “super delegates.” Unlike most states, these will not be free agents at convention. Instead, they will be elected at the state convention in May and will be bound to the statewide vote winner of Georgia.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s election results indicate Gingrich won six of the congressional districts by more than 50%, giving him 18 delegates outright. He won an additional six districts and finished second in the remaining two districts, giving him a total of 32 delegates of the 42 allocating by congressional district. Romney will take the other 10.
The at-large delegates are still being allocated. The current delegate totals for each candidate in Georgia are Gingrich with 46, Romney with 13 and Rick Santorum at 2, but the numbers will change when the election results are certified.
