Santorum hat-trick in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri

Washington, Feb 8, 2012

US presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has won the contests for the Republican Party nomination in Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado.

Correspondents say Tuesday's hat-trick is a big upset for front-runner Mitt Romney, who has struggled to connect with the party's conservative base.

Mr Santorum told supporters it was a victory for all those "building the conservative movement in this country".

The eventual nominee will face Barack Obama in November's election.

Newt Gingrich hardly campaigned in the three states that voted on Tuesday, and did not even appear on Missouri's ballot.

Distrust of Romney

In Minnesota's caucuses, with 88% of the vote counted, Mr Santorum was on 45%, while Texas Congressman Ron Paul was on 27% and former Massachusetts Governor Romney had 17%.

In Missouri's primary, with all votes counted, Mr Santorum won with 55.2%, well ahead of Mr Romney at 25.3% and Mr Paul on 12.2%.

The Republican Party chairman in Colorado later declared Mr Santorum the winner in that state's caucuses, too.

Final results showed Mr Santorum won the state with 40.2% of votes, with Mr Romney on nearly 35%.

Pitching himself as the only true conservative in the presidential race, Mr Santorum had campaigned hard in Minnesota and Missouri - states with significant blocs of Tea Party and evangelical Christian voters respectively.

The former Pennsylvania senator, who had not won a contest since his narrow win in Iowa's caucuses in January, had been viewed as a long-shot candidate.

Tuesday's victories will inject new momentum into Mr Santorum's campaign, as he hopes to displace Mr Gingrich as the conservative alternative to Mr Romney.

In Missouri, Mr Santorum had the opportunity to marshal conservative voters behind his candidacy, since Mr Gingrich did not appear on the ballot.

Mr Gingrich, who was campaigning in Ohio, told CNN: "I think the big story coming out tonight is going to be that it's very hard for the elite media to portray Governor Romney as the inevitable nominee after tonight's over."

Correspondents say the game plan of Mr Gingrich, a former House of Representatives Speaker, is to ride out February and hang on until March when Southern states where he stands a better chance of success come into play.

Long race

Mr Romney tried to boost his credentials on being anti-abortion, pro-religious freedom and opposed to gay marriage, in a last-ditch effort to win over social conservatives ahead of Minnesota and Colorado's caucuses.

During his first run for the Republican presidential nomination back in 2008, Mr Romney won in both Colorado and Minnesota.

But both states are perceived to have moved to the right since then, so doubts over his Mormon faith and political record as governor of a liberal state could have cost him votes.

Playing down the significance of Tuesday's contests, Romney campaign political director Rich Beeson said earlier in the day: "Mitt Romney is not going to win every contest. John McCain [the 2008 Republican nominee] lost 19 states in 2008, and we expect our opponents will notch a few wins, too."

Thirty-seven delegates were at stake in Minnesota and 33 Colorado. The primary in Missouri is being dubbed a "beauty contest" since it will actually allocate its delegates next month.

Before Tuesday's votes, Mr Romney had 101 of the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination at the Republican Party convention in August, according to an Associated Press news agency tally.

In second place, Mr Gingrich was on 32 delegates, Mr Santorum 17 and Mr Paul nine.

Mr Romney has racked up the most victories in this year's election race, with resounding wins in New Hampshire, Florida and Nevada.

---------------------

Analysis

These results are quite an upset. Mitt Romney always looked shaky in Minnesota, but he had been expected to take Colorado comfortably. Four years ago when Mr Romney was competing for the Republican nomination, he won Colorado with 60% of the vote.

Mr Santorum's campaign will receive an injection of enthusiasm and money in the wake of his victory. In winning big in these three states he has lent some credibility to his claim that he can be a real social and conservative standard-bearer.

However he lacks the organisation that is a hallmark of the Romney campaign and his candidacy remains a long shot.

Most will still view Mr Romney as the front-runner even after tonight. But dissatisfied, fractious Republican voters - especially those on the socially conservative and religious wing of the party - seem to be telling Mr Romney's rivals: "Don't give up."

Adam BrookesBBC News, Washington