Santorum Sweeps 3 States In Major Upset Victory

DENVER - Rick Santorum swept the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses as well as the Missouri primary Tuesday night in a huge upset victory that undermined Mitt Romney's status as the inevitable Republican nominee.

Santorum's win in Colorado was a particularly tough setback for Romney in a state that the former Massachusetts governor had been expected to win. The former Pennsylvania senator's big night also stole the spotlight away from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who has portrayed himself as Romney's principal rival in the race.

Colorado's Republican Party chairman Ryan Call confirmed to FOX News early Wednesday that Santorum won the Colorado caucuses with 40 percent of the vote, ahead of Romney's 35 percent, Gingrich's 13 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul's 12 percent.

Romney, who won Minnesota and Colorado handily four years ago as the conservative alternative to Arizona Sen. John McCain had been widely expected to win Colorado a second time even as recent polls predicted a good night for Santorum in Minnesota and Missouri.

Along with his early victory in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, Santorum has now won four contests. Romney has won three and Gingrich has taken one.

Despite Tuesday night's bitter result, Romney remains ahead of his rivals in the delegate count.

With victories in both Minnesota and Missouri, it had already been shaping up as a very good night for Santorum -- even before he scored the trifecta by capturing Colorado.

Before those final results were announced, Santorum told supporters at his election night rally in St. Charles, Mo., that conservatism was "alive and well in Missouri and in Minnesota."

"Tonight was not just a victory for us. It was a victory for the voices of our party -- conservatives and the Tea Party -- who are out there every single day… building a voice for freedom in this land," he said.

Santorum also celebrated his victory over Romney, saying "we doubled 'em up, here and in Minnesota" and later took a shot at his rival in a FOX News interview, saying Romney was "Obama-lite" on big issues like health care and bailouts to the financial industry.

With 89 percent of the Minnesota precincts reporting, Santorum had 45 percent of the vote, Paul had 27 percent, Romney had 17 percent and Gingrich was last with 11 percent.

In Missouri, the former Pennsylvania senator won with 55 percent of the vote, besting Romney's 25 percent and Paul's 12 percent. Gingrich was not on the Missouri ballot.

Later in his speech, Santorum alluded to Romney's recent statement that he was "not concerned about the very poor" because they have safety nets like Medicaid and food stamps to rely upon.

"I do care about -- not 99 percent or 95 percent -- I care about the very rich and the very poor. I care about 100 percent of America," Santorum said.

In recent days, sensing a possible loss in two of the three states, Romney's campaign had attempted to downplay the importance of Tuesday's contests and began focusing some of its fire away from Gingrich and towards the former Pennsylvania senator.

Tuesday's results were bound to rattle the Romney campaign and undermine its portrayal of the former Massachusetts governor as the inevitable Republican nominee.

During subdued remarks to supporters in Denver after his projected losses in Minnesota and Missouri, Romney congratulated Santorum, but made the case that he was still best equipped to face Obama in the general election.

"I stand before you ready to lead this party and this nation," Romney said, citing his experience in business and government. "President Obama recently said he's learning," he added. "We say he's learning too little and too late. The presidency is not a place to learn how to lead. It's a place to exercise the judgment and leadership that has been learned over a lifetime, and that is precisely what I will do."

The results were doubtless a blow to Gingrich, who did not address his supporters or the press Tuesday night.

Gingrich said he had decided not to pay the $1,000 filing fee to appear on the Missouri ballot and downplayed his likely weak finish in Minnesota and Colorado earlier Tuesday. His campaign has instead set higher expectations in the southern states voting on Super Tuesday.

But Gingrich fell short of his own projection to FOX News early Tuesday that he would finish "in the middle of the pack."

The results were likely a disappointment as well for Texas Rep. Ron Paul, whose greatest perceived strength was his ability to turn out motivated voters in caucus states.

In Colorado and Minnesota, voters participated in presidential preference polls, but convention delegates will not be awarded to the Republican candidates until a later date. Missouri's primary did not lead to any delegates being awarded at all. Instead, the state's 52 delegates will be determined by the results of the state's Republican caucuses on March 17.