UPDATE: Likely delegate breakdown:
AT-LARGE: Santorum 3 delegates
CDs: Santorum 12 delegates
STATEWIDE PROPORTIONAL: Santorum 18 delegates Romney 7 delegates
-- Dave Helling
Results
Delegates
Former Senator Rick Santorum has won the Kansas caucus.
Santorum got 51 percent of the vote. Mitt Romney got 21 percent, Newt Gingrich 14 percent, and Ron Paul 13 percent.
By overwhelmingly winning the Kansas Republican presidential caucuses, Santorum bolstered his claim that front-runner Mitt Romney hasn't locked up the GOP nomination.
Santorum appeared on track to pick up many of the state's 40 delegates, but the exact number won't be known until later results come in from the Topeka and Kansas City areas.
The former Pennsylvania senator had said winning Kansas would be a big step in overcoming the advantage that Romney, who didn't campaign in Kansas, enjoys in the hunt for delegates to the GOP's national nominating convention. Santorum held three rallies in as many days in Topeka, Wichita and the Kansas City area, all rich in votes.
Santorum enjoyed support from some small-government conservatives and, more importantly, many abortion opponents who make up a core constituency of the Kansas GOP, including leaders of Kansans for Life. He portrayed himself as the non-establishment candidate and told Kansas residents that their caucuses were crucial ahead of other post-Super Tuesday contests in the South.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, received a late boost in Kansas when political icon Bob Dole, the 88-year-old former U.S. Senate majority leader and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, urged his fellow Kansans to back the front-runner.
Santorum's triumph, coupled with Romney's early advantage in Wyoming, were prelude to twin primaries in Alabama and Mississippi on Tuesday that loom as unexpectedly pivotal in the race to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama in the fall.
Romney, the front-runner by far in the delegate competition, padded his lead overnight when he won all nine delegates on the island of Guam and an equal number in the Northern Mariana Islands.
Romney began the day with 440 delegates, more than all his rivals combined. Santorum had 181, Gingrich 107 and Paul had 46.
A candidate must win 1,144 to clinch the Republican presidential nomination at the national convention in Tampa next August.
In Wyoming, where some counties caucused earlier in the week, Romney had five of the 12 delegates at stake, Santorum had two, Paul had one, and one was uncommitted. Three more remained to be determined in party meetings on the day's calendar.
Romney did not campaign in Kansas, leaving the field to Santorum and Paul.
Gingrich cancelled a scheduled trip to the state late in the week to concentrate on the two Southern primaries on Tuesday.
In sparsely populated Wyoming, there were 15 county conventions during the day to pick six convention delegates.
Kansas drew more attention from the White House hopefuls, but not much more, given its position midway between Super Tuesday and potentially pivotal primaries next Tuesday in Mississippi and Alabama.
Paul and Santorum both campaigned in the state on Friday, and Gov. Sam Brownback appeared with each without making an endorsement.
In Topeka, Paul told an audience of about 500 that Kansas should be a “fertile field” for his libertarian-leaning views but declined to say how many delegates he hoped to gain.
Santorum, who hopes to drive Gingrich from the race in the coming week, lashed out at Obama and Romney simultaneously in remarks in the Kansas capital city.
“We already have one president who doesn't tell the truth to the American people. We don't need another,” he said.
The former Pennsylvania senator told reporters he was confident “that we can win Kansas on Saturday and come into Alabama and Mississippi, and this race should come down to two people.”
An aide to Gingrich said earlier in the week the former House speaker must win both Southern primaries on Tuesday to justify continuing in the campaign.
But Gingrich strongly suggested otherwise on Friday as polls showed a tight three-way contest in Alabama.
“I think there's a fair chance we'll win,” the former House speaker told The Associated Press about the contests in Alabama and Mississippi. “But I just want to set this to rest once and for all. We're going to Tampa.”
Romney had no campaign appearances Saturday. The former Massachusetts governor won six of 10 Super Tuesday states earlier in the week, and hopes for a Southern breakthrough in Alabama on Tuesday after earlier losing South Carolina and Georgia to Gingrich.
