Video: Rick Santorum won the Louisiana Republican presidential primary Saturday, beating Mitt Romney in yet another conservative Southern state. But Romney leads dramatically in the hunt for delegates.
METAIRIE, La. — Rick Santorum won the Louisiana primary on Saturday, boosting his claim as the leader of the conservative wing of the Republican Party even as his odds of beating Mitt Romney in the overall delegate race appear slim.
With nearly 95 percent of precincts reporting, Santorum led Romney 49 percent to 27 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was third with 16 percent and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) was taking 6 percent.
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“We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us,” the president said.
Santorum said in remarks from Wisconsin, which is one of the next states in the GOP nomination contest, that his victory shows his campaign should keep going.
“This race is long and far from over,” Santorum said.
Romney’s defeat represented the latest setback in the South for the front-runner, who has lost primaries in six Southern states this month and also lost a key primary earlier this year in South Carolina.
Santorum, meanwhile, can again claim momentum based on a strong showing in a heavily conservative state. He has won seven contests for the Republican presidential nomination this month, including five in the South.
Nonetheless, Romney’s other victories, especially a big win Tuesday in the Illinois primary, appear to have cemented his status as the likely nominee. After taking several large, industrial states in the Midwest, Romney has enjoyed a new level of acclaim from Republican leaders in recent days, including the endorsement of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, as Santorum and Newt Gingrich have struggled to clear a path to the nomination.
Gingrich congratulated the night’s winner but emphasized that he was still in the game.
“Rick Santorum deserves credit for coming in first in Louisiana,” Gingrich said. “I am very grateful for the thousands of Louisianians who voted for me tonight. The theme of $2.50 per gallon of gasoline or less, and an American energy policy that ensures no American president will ever again bow to a Saudi king were clearly popular . . . This is clearly still an open race. So . . . I will carry our solution-oriented campaign to Tampa” — site of the Republican convention in August.
The results in Louisiana illustrated Romney’s chief remaining weakness: his standing among the most conservative voters.
Outside a polling place in Covington, La., voters had sharp words for the GOP front-runner.
“I think he’s going to be another Obama,” Bobby Massa, 47, a warehouse worker, said of Romney. “I just get the sick feeling that he’ll continue what Obama’s been doing.”
Massa said he voted for Gingrich but would “most likely” support Romney in November if he were the GOP nominee.
“Gingrich is a straight shooter, and Romney just works around the truth till he gets what he wants,” Massa said.
Covington is the seat of St. Tammany Parish, where more than 75 percent of voters favored Republican Sen. John McCain in 2008. Many voters said the nomination fight has gone on too long.
“I think these guys need to put their egos in the closet and get out,” said Catherine Farrish, 60, a naturopath. Farrish said she considered voting for Romney so the race would end quicker. Instead, she said, she supported Santorum because “he scares me the least.”
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