WASHINGTON — A resurgent Rick Santorum swept to victory in primaries in Alabama and Mississippi Tuesday night, upending the race for the Republican presidential nomination yet again and trying to nudge Newt Gingrich toward the sidelines.
[See pictures of Rick Santorum.]
Mitt Romney was running third in both states.
"We did it again," Santorum told cheering supporters in Lafayette, La. He added, "Now is the time for conservatives to pull together" in an effort to defeat Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who still is the faraway leader in the delegate competition to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama in the fall.
In defeat, Romney issued a brief written statement congratulating the night's big winner but also saying, "I am pleased that we will be increasing our delegate count in a very substantial way after tonight." In the hours before the votes were counted, he had bristled that Santorum was "at the desperate end of his campaign."
While Romney must regroup, it was Gingrich with the most to lose as he struggled for political survival in a part of the country he hoped would fuel one more comeback in the unpredictable race.
Appearing before supporters in Birmingham, Ala., Gingrich twice referred to remaining in the marathon contest. But he was unusually complimentary toward Santorum, a contrast to pokes at Romney. "If you're the front-runner and you keep coming in third, you're not much of a front-runner," he said.
It is rare for Alabama and Mississippi to play an important role in a Republican nominating campaign, but the 2012 race has gone on far longer than usual. Equally improbable was the decision by Santorum and Romney to campaign in the next few days in Puerto Rico, which holds a primary on Sunday.
Illinois holds its primary next Tuesday, and already Romney's super PAC was advertising there in hopes of giving him an advantage.
Evangelicals played an outsized role in both of Tuesday's primary states, underscoring the challenge Romney had faced in the Southern primaries.
In Mississippi and Alabama, 80 percent or more of voters leaving their polling places said they were born again Christians or evangelical. Those voters have been reluctant to rally to Romney's side in the primaries and caucuses to date. Among them, Santorum bested Romney by 9 points in Alabama and 4 points in Mississippi.
More broadly, the exit polls showed a primary electorate that was conservative, determinedly Republican and profoundly unhappy about the government — a combination that will keep both states in the GOP column in the fall.
There were 107 Republican National Convention delegates at stake on Tuesday, 47 in Alabama, 37 in Mississippi, 17 in Hawaii caucuses and six more in caucuses in American Samoa.
Santorum's two victories were worth at least 27 delegates. Gingrich won at least 20 and Romney at least 18. The split underscored the difficulty that Romney's rivals face in overcoming his big lead.
The partial allocation of delegates from the primary states left Romney with 472 in The Associated Press count, with 454 of the 1,144 needed to win the nomination. Santorum had 244, Gingrich 127 and Paul 47.
That gave the former Massachusetts governor more than his rivals combined. And while Santorum in particular challenges the mathematical projections, Romney still is amassing delegates at a rate that puts him on track to clinch control of nomination before the convention next summer.
In Alabama Tuesday night, with 80 percent of the precincts counted, Santorum was pulling 35 percent of the vote, Gingrich had 29 percent and Romney 28 percent.
Returns from 93 percent of Mississippi's precincts showed Santorum with 33 percent, Gingrich 31 percent and Romney 30.
Rep. Ron Paul, the fourth contender, made little effort in the states on the day's ballot.
In Mississippi, more than eight in 10 voters said they were dissatisfied or angry with the federal government, while in Alabama, 80 percent said they would definitely vote for the Republican candidate against Obama next fall, no matter who he is.
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