Santorum rebounds in Republican race

Rick Santorum, the socially conservative former Pennsylvania senator, won a clean-sweep in voting contests for the Republican presidential nomination, winning all three states that voted on Tuesday night and taking the shine off Mitt Romney’s frontrunner status.

Mr Santorum’s strong showing in the non-binding Minnesota and Colorado caucuses, and in the Missouri primary, have not won him any of the delegates needed to secure the nomination.

But the victories will give a much-needed psychological boost after weeks of speculation that he would have to pull out after poor performances in other states since his opening victory in Iowa. It will also likely trigger a new wave of donations to his floundering campaign.

The results from the three states underscore the lingering scepticism towards Mr Romney, who won in Florida and Nevada last week but still faces large pockets of resistance within his party. They suggest that the Republican nomination race is set to be a drawn-out one.

Mr Romney had won both Minnesota and Colorado during his 2008 nomination bid.

“I don’t stand here ... to be the conservative alternative to Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama,” Mr Santorum told his supporters during a victory rally at his campaign headquarters in St Charles, Missouri on Tuesday night.

Foster Friess, the billionaire fund manager who had donated to the super-Pac that supports Mr Santorum, was at his side.

Returns from 95 per cent of Minnesota’s precincts showed Mr Santorum with 45 per cent support, Texas Representative Ron Paul with 27 per cent and Mr Romney - who won the state in his first try for the nomination four years ago - with 17 per cent. Mr Gingrich trailed with 11 per cent.

In Missouri’s “beauty contest” primary, Mr Santorum won 55 per cent, with 100 per cent of the vote counted. Mr Romney had 25 per cent and Mr Paul 12. Mr Gingrich was not on the ballot.

But no delegates were awarded on Tuesday night, with further rounds of conferences or voting to follow in each state. Missouri, in an electoral idiosyncrasy, will hold caucuses on March 17 to award its delegates.

A candidate needs 1,144 delegates to win the nomination, and Mr Romney has a significant lead in that tally, with 85 delegates to Newt Gingrich’s 29 and Mr Santorum’s 16. Libertarian Ron Paul is trailing with only eight.

In Colorado, returns from all the precincts showed Mr Santorum with 40 per cent of the vote to 35 per cent for Mr Romney. Mr Gingrich had 13 per cent and Mr Paul claimed 12 per cent.

Mr Romney told supporters in Denver, Colorado: “This was a good night for Rick Santorum and I want to congratulate Senator Santorum, but we will keep campaigning and I expect to become our nominee, with your help.” “We’re going to take our message of liberty and prosperity to every corner of this country,” he told a small crowd.

Mr Santorum had been campaigning heavily in Colorado and Minnesota, basically skipping the votes in Florida and Nevada to concentrate on Christian conservatives in the Midwest.

In the days leading up to the polls, Mr Romney’s team had shown signs it was worried that Mr Santorum, a social conservative, might do better than expected in the states.

"He has been part of the big spending establishment in Congress and in the influence peddling," Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor who is supporting Mr Romney, told reporters on Monday, in part of a multi-pronged effort to portray Mr Santorum as fiscally irresponsible.

This failed effort to tarnish Mr Santorum, plus the fact that Mr Romney actively campaigned in Minnesota, will zap some of the momentum from Mr Romney’s campaign.

Mr Gingrich, who won a resounding victory in South Carolina and has vowed to fight on despite losing to Mr Romney by a large margin in Florida, did not aggressively campaign in the states voting on Tuesday. Instead, he is focusing on the southern states, including his home state of Georgia, that will vote on “Super Tuesday” on March 6.

All three rivals to Mr Romney hope that they can chalk up enough delegates to wrest the nomination away from the frontrunner. However, none has the fundraising might or groundwork organisation of Mr Romney.

Colorado’s caucuses were only open to registered Republicans, while the other two states allowed independents to vote as well.