By Jos Truitt • @jostruitt • 12 years ago

Romney finishes Iowa caucus three way on top, despite surging Santorum

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum

O faces via Fox News

The hot and heavy three way in Iowa between Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum lasted late into the night. The lead position went back and forth, but despite Santorum surging all over, Romney ultimately pulled out on top. A lack of caucus enthusiasm led to a tight sparring match between the three men. While Romney finished ahead of Santorum, he led by only 8 votes, 30,015 to 30,007. Paul cleaned up farther behind with 26,219 votes. The three way pulled away quickly from Gingrich and Perry. The latter, perhaps a sore loser, is returning to Texas to “assess” his campaign’s future. Michele Bachmann, unsurprisingly, was never really an active participant.

In some ways, Romney and Santorum represent the two poles of the Republican spectrum. While it’s probably unlikely we’ll see more surging Santorum, he can at least position himself as coming at Romney from behind. But voters did not express a clear preference in Iowa’s messy, over hyped caucus.

Boston, MA

Jos Truitt is Executive Director of Development at Feministing. She joined the team in July 2009, became an Editor in August 2011, and Executive Director in September 2013. She writes about a range of topics including transgender issues, abortion access, and media representation. Jos first got involved with organizing when she led a walk out against the Iraq war at her high school, the Boston Arts Academy. She was introduced to the reproductive justice movement while at Hampshire College, where she organized the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program’s annual reproductive justice conference. She has worked on the National Abortion Federation’s hotline, was a Field Organizer at Choice USA, and has volunteered as a Pro-Choice Clinic Escort. Jos has written for publications including The Guardian, Bilerico, RH Reality Check, Metro Weekly, and the Columbia Journalism Review. She has spoken and trained at numerous national conferences and college campuses about trans issues, reproductive justice, blogging, feminism, and grassroots organizing. Jos completed her MFA in Printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute in Spring 2013. In her "spare time" she likes to bake and work on projects about mermaids.

Jos Truitt is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Development.

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