Rick Santorum shakes up GOP with three wins Tuesday [video]

Rick Santorum made a sweep through Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado on Tuesday loudly projecting conservative voice winning the primaries in all three states.

Santorum, who hasn’t faired so well in other states, threw a wrench in plans for Mitt Romney to secure the Republican nomination any time soon.

After all the votes were counted, Santorum landed on top in all three states with Romney taking second in Missouri and Colorado.  However, Ron Paul pushed the one-time frontrunner back to third in Minnesota edging Romney out for second place.

Here’s how CBS has the rough numbers:

Santorum won 45 percent of the vote, with Rep. Ron Paul of Texas coming in second place with 27 percent. Romney earned 17 percent while Gingrich took 11 percent.

With all precincts reporting in Missouri, Santorum carried 55 percent of the vote, while Romney took 25 percent and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas took 12 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich failed to get on the ballot in Missouri.

In Colorado, Santorum won 40 percent of the vote, while Romney won 35 percent. Gingrich won 13 percent, and Paul took 12 percent.

At the end of the day, however, Tuesday’s votes will not reward any delegates toward winning the party’s nomination.  The Minnesota caucuses are the first step in a long process to assign delegates; the same is true in Colorado. Missouri’s primary is even referred to as a “beauty contest,” since the state’s delegates will only be awarded after the March 17 caucuses.  Romney won both Colorado and Missouri during the last election, so his disappointing returns have fueled Santorum’s hope of pulling out front as the conservative leader to steal the nomination.

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Tags: Election 2012, Mitt Romney, Republican Primary, rick santorum, video