By Alex Jahncke | Staff Reporter
After a long day at the polls and the final votes were counted, Rick Santorum won the Missouri Republican Primary held today with 55.2 percent of the votes (138,681 votes). Although this particular primary did not really mean anything in the standings, it was still a huge moral victory for Santorum. He also won the caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado. These were his first wins over front-runner Mitt Romney since the Iowa caucuses.
Santorum was the only candidate that campaigned for the event, so his win did not come to much of a shock. Still he defeated Romney by a two to one margin. Newt Gingrich was not even on the Missouri ballot because he refused to pay the fee. He deemed the primary unnecessary since it was only symbolic and would not actually count in the race.
Romney came in second with 25.3 percent of the votes (63,709) votes, followed by Ron Paul with 12.2 percent (30,584 votes). As for the Democratic primary, President Barack Obama won as predicted.
“Today, Missouri Democrats came together in a show of strength and organization that truly stands in stark contrast to our Republican counterparts,” said Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Mike Sanders. “While the results aren’t much of a surprise, President Obama made a strong showing here in a Missouri primary that encouraged the most Missourians possible to have their votes counted in the nominating process.”
Today’s primary may not have counted towards the actual race, but it helps shape out the race and sets up Missouri for the caucus that will be held March 17.
