PORTLAND, Maine ?Mitt Romney captured the Maine caucuses Saturday, capping a triumphant day that also included winning the CPAC straw poll vote in Washington.
Romney won the non-binding caucuses by just three points, 39 percent to Ron Paul?s 36 percent. Rick Santorum trailed in third with 18 percent, and Newt Gingrich received 6 percent of the vote.
Continue ReadingApproximately 5600 votes were cast in the caucuses, which began here Feb. 4.
Romney?s Maine victory followed a CPAC straw poll win in which the former Massachusetts governor carried 38 percent of activists? support to Rick Santorum?s 31 percent.
Romney, whose claim to inevitability had been hampered by three losses in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado on Tuesday, had made a strong last-minute effort to win Maine, airing commercials and choosing Portland as the location of his first audience question-and-answer town hall since Jan. 13. He followed up with two visits to caucus sites Saturday to nail down a state he won easily in 2008 with 52 percent.
?I thank the voters of Maine for their support. I?m committed to turning around America. And I?m heartened to have the support of so many good people in this great state,? Romney said in a statement Saturday evening. ?The voters of Maine have sent a clear message that it is past time to send an outsider to the White House, a conservative with a lifetime of experience in the private sector, who can uproot Washington?s culture of taxing and spending and borrowing and endless bureaucracy.?
Neither Romney nor his son Tagg, who represented his father at several caucus sites, remained in Maine for the results to be announced.
For Paul, the close loss represented another disappointing finish ? his nine consecutive state without a win. Despite three visits to caucus sites today and an obviously excited base, Paul could not pull off a victory in a state where even his rivals acknowledged his campaign was the most organized.
His supporters pointed out Saturday that delegates are what matter, and that it?s possible that their campaign could win more delegates than Romney at the state GOP convention in May.
While neither Santorum nor Gingrich contested the state by making a campaign stop here, Paul had raised expectations about his performance, pointing to Maine as a caucus state his campaign had zeroed in on.
?The No. 1 place where we?re going to be keying in on, working on is Maine,? Paul told CNN in an interview on Tuesday. ?There?s a lot of enthusiasm there.?
The mood was grim at Paul?s election night party here Saturday when it was announced that the former Massachusetts governor had won the state?s non-binding caucuses.
The crowd booed, then went eerily silent, when the results were revealed.
?Liar!? shouted one supporter when state GOP Chairman Charlie Webster announced the results. ?How many dead voted?? cried another.
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