On caucus night, or rather in the early morning hours, Iowa Republicans declared Mitt Romney the winner in Iowa by a mere eight votes.
The results are certified, with eight precincts missing, never to be recovered, and Rick Santorum holds a 34 point lead over Mitt Romney and they are calling it a "split decision?"
Rick Santorum – Final total: 29,839 Change: -168
Mitt Romney – Final total: 29,805 Change: -210
How do you declare one man a winner by eight votes, yet proclaim it is a tie with the other man ends up ahead by 34 votes?
No longer can pundits nor Mitt Romney claim Romney won both Iowa and New Hampshire.
Rick Santorum took the first caucuses of the country, according to the results that could be certified, and Romney took the second set which were primaries.
TOTALS
Rick Santorum: 29,839
Mitt Romney: 29,805
Ron Paul: 26,036
Newt Gingrich: 16,163
Rick Perry: 12,557
Michele Bachmann: 6,046
Jon Huntsman: 739
Others: No preference, 147; Herman Cain, 45; Sarah Palin, 23; Buddy Roemer, 17; Fred Karger, 10; Gary Johnson, 8; Donald Trump, 5; Paul Ryan, 3; Condoleeza Rice, 2; Roy Moore, 2; Ben Lange, 2; Mike Huckabee, 2; Rudy Giuliani, 2; Tim Pawlenty, 2; Scott Walker, 1; John McCain, 1; Ralph Nader, 1; Pat Buchanan, 1; Robert D. Ray, 1; Jared Blankenship, 1.
THE EIGHT MISSING PRECINCTS
* Cerro Gordo County’s Mason City Ward 2, Precinct 3
* Emmet County’s Estherville Ward 2
* Franklin County’s Geneva-Reeve
* Lee County’s Fort Madison 4A
* Lee County’s Fort Madison 4B
* Lee County’s Franklin-Cedar-Marion
* Lee County’s Washington-Green Bay-Denmark
* Pocahontas County’s Center-South Roosevelt-North Lincoln
Next up: South Carolina, Saturday, January 21, 2012. Join us for live blogging and live discussion as we watch entrance and exit polls and keep track of the primary results throughout the night.
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