Paul sees ‘chaos’ in Nevada caucuses

by Julian Pecquet - 02/05/12 3:45 PM ET

Texas Rep. Ron Paul vowed Sunday to press on with his long-shot campaign despite a disappointing third-place finish in the Nevada caucuses.

“The votes aren’t all counted yet and there seems to be a bit of chaos out there even though it was a small caucus vote,” Paul told ABC’s This Week.

The GOP presidential hopeful suggested there was still a fight for second place in Nevada. “So yes, if you go from second to third there would be disappointment,” he added.

{mosads}“But also, on the positive side, we will get a block of votes, we will still get some delegates and we still will pursue our plans to go into the caucus states.”

Paul finished a distant second behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in Nevada in 2008, with 14 percent of the vote. This time he increased his share to 19 percent but came in behind Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, despite spending considerable time and money in the libertarian-leaning state.

2024 Election Coverage

Asked where he’d get his first win, Paul didn’t venture a guess. The other candidates have all finished on top at least once: Rick Santorum in Iowa, Newt Gingrich in South Carolina and Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, Florida and Nevada.

Current projections have Paul winning 14 delegates so far, behind Romney’s 97 and Gingrich’s 31, of the 1,144 needed to win the nomination.

Tags