Santorum, Romney in virtual tie, with Ron Paul in third

Karen Tumulty
Washington Post
January 3, 2012

11:11 PM – DES MOINES — Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) were deadlocked for the lead for the Iowa caucuses late Tuesday night, leading a splintered and increasingly fractious field as the Republican presidential race moves to New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida.

With 97 percent of precincts reporting at 12:10 a.m. Eastern, former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) was in a virtual tie with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, leading him by just 37 votes. Both of them hovered around 24.6 percent of the total, with Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) close behind at 21 points. It seemed possible that this year’s winner — whoever it turns out to be — would finish with the lowest percentage total of any GOP winner in Iowa’s modern history, sinking below Bob Dole’s 26 percent in 1996.

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This article was posted: Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 11:35 pm

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