Santorum Comes Close to Pa. on Super Tuesday

Former Pa. senator will watch returns near his hometown

Rick Santorum faced a crucial Super Tuesday test in Ohio, where he's drawing upon his working-class background and underdog image to try to stop Mitt Romney from scoring a pivotal victory in a 10-state round of voting.

The former senator from neighboring Pennsylvania has a shell of a campaign in Ohio, with no state headquarters and a bare-bones staff.

Santorum will spend Tuesday night watching returns in Steubenville, an eastern Ohio town just a 90-minute drive from his own Pennsylvania hometown. On Tuesday afternoon a Twitter comment on @RickSantorum said "we'll be in Ohio tonight for an election party! Come join us!"

An unapologetic social conservative, Santorum has cast the race in biblical terms: He's David vs. Romney's Goliath. Even that “is probably a little bit of an understatement,” Santorum said Monday.

In Romney he faces a challenger who enjoys a massive cash advantage and a political machine that's produced high-stakes victories in other states when his front-runner status was in doubt.

Santorum is expected to be competitive in several states -- Tennessee, Oklahoma and Georgia among them. But Ohio voters, perhaps more than any others among the Super Tuesday voting, may shape the fate of his campaign.

A Santorum victory could reshuffle the Republican contest, sending a powerful message that Romney's grasp on his party's nomination is by no means assured. A loss in Ohio, where Santorum has devoted much of his time and resources, may have lasting consequences.

Santorum is not on the ballot, and neither is Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. for Tuesday’s primary in Va., where both candidates now reside. It’s not clear whether Santorum voted in Va. The Gingrich campaign announced that the candidate and his wife would not be voting on Super Tuesday in Va., where only Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul are on the GOP Presidential ballot.

The Pa. primary is set for April 24. The Del. presidential primary will be held on the same day. The NJ primary is scheduled on June 5.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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