Mitt Romney, Santorum battle on Super Tuesday

Washington, Mar 7: Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, with three wins each in their kitty, were running almost neck to neck in Ohio on "Super Tuesday" wherein 10 States went into Republican presidential primary.

Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, had won Vermont, Virginia and his own home State of Massachusetts; while Santorum, the former Pennsylvania Senator, had garnered North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, could win only his home State of Georgia, while Ron Paul – the Congressman from Texas – was yet to open his account. Notably the counting of votes were still going on and these wins are predictions by the US media, based on the votes counted so far.

"Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich were dividing up Republican primary votes around the nation, with Santorum and Romney each winning three states, but the key battleground of Ohio remained too close to call," The Washington Post reported.

According to The New York Times, Romney and Santorum on Tuesday were locked in a close race in Ohio, the marquee contest of Super Tuesday's Republican voting and one of the most important swing states in the election this November.

Romney so far has 288 delegates with him, Santorum 106, Gingrich 73 and Paul 52. They need 1,144 delegates to earn the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent Barack Obama in the November presidential elections.

PTI