Santorum Roars Back With Triple Victory

Rick Santorum has won the caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota, putting his bid for the Republican presidential nomination back on track.

The former Pennsylvania senator also won a non-binding Missouri primary in a triple victory that has revitalised his campaign.

A jubilant Mr Santorum declared to cheering supporters in St Charles, Missouri: "Conservatism is alive and well in Missouri and Minnesota!"

Challenging his rival, he claimed that on issues ranging from health care to Wall Street bailouts, "Mitt Romney has the same positions as Barack Obama".

Mr Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, prevailed in both Minnesota and Colorado in 2008, the first time he ran for the nomination.

But the Republican Party is now more conservative in both states, giving Mr Santorum - a fierce opponent of abortion and gay rights - a chance to reassert himself.

His victory showed he is still challenging Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, for the claim of conservative alternative to Mr Romney.

It was the first victory for the politician since he eked out a 34-vote win over Mr Romney in the lead-off Iowa caucuses a month ago.

Mr Gingrich had seemed to eclipse him as the leading conservative rival to Mr Romney when he won the South Carolina primary late last month.

With returns from 66% of Minnesota's precincts, Mr Santorum had 45% of support, Ron Paul 27% and Mr Romney 17%. Mr Gingrich trailed with 11%.

In Colorado, with returns from almost a third of the precincts, Mr Santorum had 43% of the vote, Mr Romney 28%, Mr Gingrich 15% and Mr Paul 13%.

In the Missouri primary, Mr Santorum took more than 50% of the vote, followed by Mr Romney with 25% and Mr Paul on 12%. Mr Gingrich was not on the ballot.

Mr Romney showed no sign of disappointment with the results.

He told supporters: "This was a good night for Rick Santorum. I want to congratulate Sen Santorum, but I expect to become the nominee with your help."

There were 37 Republican National Convention delegates at stake in Minnesota and 33 more in Colorado.

Together they account for the largest one-day combined total so far in the race for the Republican nomination.

Missouri's delegates to the party's national nominating convention will be chosen in caucuses beginning next month.

Mr Santorum's victory in Minnesota nets him at least 13 delegates to the party's national convention, taking his total to 30.

Mr Romney leads the overall race for delegates, with 101, Mr Gingrich has 32 and Mr Paul has nine.

It takes 1,144 delegates to win the Republican nomination at the Republican National Convention in late August in Tampa, Florida.

The next contest is In Maine, where caucuses finish on Saturday, followed by Michigan and Arizona on February 28 before Super Tuesday on March 6.