Ron Paul gains votes in delayed Maine caucus, but Romney keeps lead

by Meghashyam Mali - 02/19/12 1:40 PM ET

GOP hopeful Mitt Romney held on to his lead in Maine’s caucuses Saturday after votes postponed by bad weather were finally tallied.

Ron Paul gained 83 votes on Romney following the caucus in Washington county, but Romney held a 156-vote lead statewide reported the Associated Press.

{mosads}Maine GOP Chairman Charlie Webster had declared Romney the winner on Feb 11, following a week-long series of caucuses. But Washington county’s caucus was postponed last week due to a snowstorm and was not included in the statewide final results.

Ron Paul’s campaign which had expected to perform well in the county had criticized the decision to postpone the caucus and not include the votes toward the grand total. The Paul campaign was hopeful Saturday’s rescheduled caucus vote would give them the edge to overtake Romney and win the state.

The Texas congressman received 163 votes in the Washington county caucus, with Romney finishing second with 80 votes. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum received 57 and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) earned four votes. Despite the win in the county, Paul failed to secure enough votes to override Romney’s statewide lead.

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The victory boosts Romney who has faced a tough month after losing a trifecta of contests to surging GOP rival Rick Santorum. Many polls now show Santorum leading Romney nationally and in key upcoming states.

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