There was a time Rick Santorum was pretty popular in this part of the country -- he overwhelmingly won Missouri's non-binding primary and swept the Kansas caucuses.

In Kansas, 30 of the state's 40 convention delegates were bound to Santorum as part of the caucus process. He won 13 of Missouri's 52 delegates at caucuses after the primary.

But they're now free to support Mitt Romney --- Santorum has officially released his delegates.