Santorum Makes It 3 for 3 in Colorado

Rick's triple win upends GOP race yet again
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 8, 2012 12:55 AM CST
Santorum Makes It 3 for 3 With Colo. Sweep
Rick Santorum speaks during a primary night party in St. Charles, Mo.   (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Colorado's GOP has declared Rick Santorum the winner of the state's presidential caucuses, making last night a clean sweep for the former senator, and a disaster for Mitt Romney's momentum. Santorum scored 40.2% of the vote to Romney's 34.9%, while Newt Gingrich beat Ron Paul for third place with 12.8% to Paul's 11.8%. With the victories in Minnesota and Missouri, Santorum has now won more states than Romney, although all three of last night's contests were largely symbolic.

The defeat in Colorado is likely to sting the most for Romney, who won the state in 2008 with 60% of the vote, notes Politico. His advisers say Romney will now spend much of the next few weeks raising money to fund a pricey stage of the campaign ahead of next month's Super Tuesday primaries, the Wall Street Journal reports. Santorum, meanwhile, faces the challenge of building an organization to match Romney's. His advisers predict that the triple win will lead to a surge in donations. (More Colorado stories.)

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