Santorum cruises to caucus victory in Carver County

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum easily won the Presidential Preference Ballot at the Republican Precinct Caucuses in Senate District 34 (Carver County plus three precincts in Scott County) last night.

Santorum collected 589 votes (49.1% of voters who indicated a preference), more than doubling the total of second-place finisher, Rep. Ron Paul, who had 272 votes (22.7%).  Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was third with 216 votes (18.0%) and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was fourth with 122 votes (10.2%).

Santorum also won the statewide ballot, taking 45.0% of the vote (as of 12:30 p.m. on February 8, with 97.5% of precincts reporting).  Paul was second (27.1%), followed by Romney (16.9%), and Gingrich (10.8%).