Alaska and Georgia Move Up Primaries

Romney wins Ohio, 5 others; Santorum wins 3; Newt 1

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney took the biggest Super Tuesday prize of all, Ohio, by a razor thin margin. The state was called for Romney only after 99.4% of precincts reported, giving him 38% to Rick Santorum's 37%. Earlier, Newt Gingrich got a crucial home-state win in Georgia, while Santorum grabbed needed victories in Tennessee, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. Romney cruised to expected wins in Massachusetts, Vermont, Idaho, and Virginia, where Ron Paul was the only other candidate on the ballot, reports AP . Romney also won the Alaska caucuses, leaving third-placed Ron Paul without a win. The states and delegates in play: More»

Your look at what to watch for today

(NEWSER) - It's here at last: Super Tuesday, the day 10 states cast their ballots in the 2012 primary. Here's what's at stake for each of the candidates today:

• Mitt Romney—Expected to win: Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia. Really wants to win: Ohio and Tennessee. Winning both would give him both of America's top swing states (Ohio and Florida), and a win in the South, and make him, in the Wall Street Journal 's words, "the presumptive leader." Keeping an eye on: Romney's camp says it's shifting into delegate-acquisition mode, so though it won't win Georgia and it's not expecting Tennessee, it's invested in the Atlanta and Knoxville regions.

Don't expect formal candidates until February at the earliest

(NEWSER) - Five Republicans had filed to run for the presidential nomination at this time four years ago; right now, there isn’t one. We can’t expect any formal declarations until February at the earliest, reports the Wall Street Journal . Why? For one thing, the first primaries won’t happen until a month later than they did in 2008. Plus, an RNC ruling requires any winner-take-all contests to take place later in the calendar year, possibly April. More»

From reindeer fat ice cream to 2-foot-long hot dogs

(NEWSER) - Some states are pudgier than others—here's looking at you, Texas—but none escapes this list of beloved yet fat-filled dishes. Health.com tracked down the worst offender in each of the flabby 50:

• Alaska: Eskimo Ice Cream, a mix of blackberries and salmon berries—in reindeer fat and seal oil.
• Connecticut: The Hartford-area Doogie's hot dog joint serves one of the insanest franks known to man: a 2-foot-long pork and beef hot dog topped with a half-pound of chili, cheddar cheese sauce, bacon, and more.

Woman who won Miss Alaska title is running in Georgia

(NEWSER) - The woman who deprived Sarah Palin of the Miss Alaska title (she had to settle for Miss Congeniality) is entering the political arena. Maryline Blackburn, now a resident of Georgia and a singer and actress to boot, is mounting a bid for the state House of Representatives, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Blackburn bested Palin in 1984, becoming the first African-American to snag the title. She's a Democrat, and, yes, she voted for Obama. More»