Rick Santorum Wins the Louisiana GOP Primary
By: John Walton
Updated: March 24, 2012
Rick Santorum wins the Louisiana GOP Primary.
With around 98% of the vote in, Santorum held a nearly 2-1 lead over front-runner Mitt Romney. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had 19% of the vote and Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 6%.
Santorum's win was his fourth in the South, where front-runner Mitt Romney has not been able to connect with conservative voters in the region.
Winning Louisiana big will help fuel Santorum's campaign as the conservative alternative to Romney.
Santorum will get at least eight of the 20 delegates up for grabs, according to a CNN estimates. Going into Louisiana, Romney had 563 delegates, more than twice the 251 Santorum had, and nearly halfway to the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.
