Rick Santorum cruised to an easy victory in Louisiana’s Republican presidential primary on Saturday.
The Associated Press and broadcast networks projected Santorum as the winner shortly after the polls closed at 9 p.m. ET.
Santorum’s win won’t change the overall state of the race, as the candidates will divide the 20 delegates at stake in Louisiana.
Before Saturday’s contest, Romney led the field with 563 delegates — slightly fewer than half of the 1,144 needed to win his party’s nomination. Santorum had earned 263.
Santorum’s victory in Louisiana shows his strength among the GOP’s conservative Southern base. He has won Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. Gingrich, who had vowed to win with a southern strategy, won the contests in Georgia and South Carolina.
Exit polls from Louisiana found that three-quarters of voters identified as conservatives and seven in 10 said they support the Tea Party movement.
The top issue for voter on Saturday was the economy, the exit polls found. Despite data showing the economy is recovering from recession, about 60 percent of Louisiana voters said the economy is getting worse.
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