Santorum wins Alabama primary

by Justin Sink - 03/14/12 1:56 AM ET

Rick Santorum will win the Alabama primary Tuesday, according to projections from multiple broadcast networks and The Associated Press. Santorum will also win in neighboring Mississippi.

The win provides the former Pennsylvania senator a pivotal win in the Deep South. It should buoy Santorum’s argument that he has become the conservative standard-bearer in a race that Mitt Romney seems unable to put away and intensify calls for rival Newt Gingrich to exit the race.

With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Santorum led with nearly 35 percent percent of the vote. Newt Gingrich had a hold on second place with more than 29 percent, with Romney close behind at more than 28 percent of the vote. Ron Paul was far behind in fourth place.

{mosads}Santorum is expected to take a majority of the state’s 50 delegates, a critical pickup as the GOP candidates battle to secure the 1,144 necessary to capture the nomination.

Before today’s voting, The Associated Press estimated Romney having 454 delegates; Santorum, 217; Gingrich, 107; and Paul, 47.

Voters in Alabama described economic concerns, including the rising price of fuel, as a primary concern when headed to the polls.

“Alabama, as well as throughout the United States, people are concerned about the economy and the jobs. We have no doubt that we can make an improvement over what we have now,” Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead told CNN Tuesday.

A Public Policy poll released Monday showed Romney with a 1-point lead over Gingrich, with Rick Santorum narrowly trailing. But that margin was flipped in Rasmussen and Alabama State University polls conducted in recent days, and each candidate was within the margin of error.

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Exit polls in the state show the Republican electorate was heavily evangelical and religious. More than 70 percent of voters in the state described themselves as evangelical Christians, according to exit polls, and nearly three-quarters said that a candidate’s faith mattered a “great deal” or “somewhat.”

Two-thirds of voters in the state self-identified as Republicans, while 28 percent said they were independents and 6 percent were Democrats.

This post was updated at 10:40 p.m.