World     

Santorum projected to win Alabama GOP primary

Xinhua, March 14, 2012

• Rick Santorum will win the Republican presidential primary in the southern U.S. state of Alabama Tuesday, NBC News and CNN projected.

  With 57 percent of the vote counted, the former Pennsylvania senator won 34 percent, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 30 percent. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney came in a close third with 28 percent, and Texas congressman Ron Paul with 5 percent.

  Apart from Alabama, Mississippi, another state in the Deep South, also held primary Tuesday. The pair of primaries were seen as high-stakes contests for all the four major GOP White House contenders, and were expected to provide some clarity that last week's Super Tuesday failed to deliver.

  The Mississippi primary is still to close to call. With 83 percent of the vote counted, Santorum led Gingrich by a margin of 33 to 32 percent, with Romney trailing closely with 30 percent.

Copyright © China.org.cn. All Rights Reserved