As predicted earlier this morning, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has won the 2012 Iowa caucuses – by only 8 votes!
Romney beat out his fellow Republican candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination, narrowly winning a close race with Rick Santorum.
STORY: It’s In The Bag! Mitt Romney Predicts Iowa Caucus Victory!
The race for the Hawkeye State was in a dead heat at the beginning of the night, as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, U.S Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), and Texas Gov. Rick Perry found themselves fighting to place in the top three.
But it was your boy Mitt Romney who came out on top.
The final numbers breakdown as follows:
CANDIDATE VOTES PCT. DEL.
Mitt Romney 30,015 24.6% 7
Rick Santorum 30,007 24.6% 6
Ron Paul 26,219 21.5% 0
Newt Gingrich 16,251 13.3% 0
Rick Perry 12,604 10.3% 0
Michele Bachmann 6,073 5.0% 0
Jon Huntsman 745 0.6% 0
Herman Cain 58 0% 0
Buddy Roemer 31 0% 0
Romney says he recognizes victory in Iowa doesn’t guarantee the Republican presidential nomination, saying “I want to make sure this isn’t just a one-state sendoff.”
Romney tells NBC’s “Today” show he was “absolutely delighted” with his victory Tuesday, since he had been “way behind in the polls.”
But he concedes “it’s a long road ahead” and that some are uncomfortable with his conservative credentials.
Asked how he could celebrate such a narrow victory, Romney says, “We’ve got a field of seven viable candidates, so it’s just mathematically impossible to do much better than that.”
Congrats to Mitt Romney as he moves on to New Hampshire.