Romney Wins Ohio, Five Others

Mitt Romney posted six wins on Super Tuesday, none more important than his narrow victory in Ohio where the GOP front-runner held off a strong challenge from rival Rick Santorum in the crucial battleground state.

The Associated Press called the Buckeye State for Romney shortly before 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, roughly five hours after the polls closed. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, the former governor was ahead 38.0 percent to 37.0, a margin of about 12,000 votes.

Romney also notched wins in Virginia, Vermont, Idaho, Alaska and his home state of Massachusetts. While those wins, coupled with a relatively strong performance in Tuesday's other contests, will add to the front-runner's overall delegate lead, they likely won't answer nagging questions about his ability to secure a nomination that has long been seen as his for the taking.

Santorum managed victories in Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Dakota. Newt Gingrich, meanwhile, held serve in his home state of Georgia. Ron Paul went 0-for-10 on the day but nonetheless managed to add to his delegate count.

The big takeaway from Tuesday will undoubtedly be Romney's narrow win in Ohio, a battleground state seen as the crown jewel of the day's contests and one that both Romney and Santorum poured their time and resources into in the lead up to the primary. Romney's Ohio win is certainly better for the GOP front-runner than the alternative but, given his cash and infrastructure advantage, the narrow victory does not provide the decisive result that he and his backers would have hoped for.

Still, moral victories aside, Santorum will have to settle with leaving Super Tuesday with three lower-profile tallies in his win column. The former senator did, however, display his strength in the traditional conservative strongholds of Tennessee and Oklahoma, a promising sign for his campaign with Mississippi and Alabama on the horizon.

Gingrich claimed the night's first victory, posting an easy win in a state he represented in Congress for two decades. But the former House speaker didn't appear on pace to crack the top two in any of the night's other nine contests. Nonetheless, he promised his supporters he had no plans to drop out. "I want you to know, in the morning, we are going on to Alabama, we're going on to Mississippi, we're going on to Kansas—and that's just this week," he said to cheers at an Atlanta hotel.

Paul's camp had hoped for a win in the North Dakota caucuses but ultimately came in second there. The libertarian-leaning congressman's campaign has mostly focused on a nickel-and-dime delegate strategy this campaign season, although a statewide win, even in a relatively out-of-the-way location like North Dakota, could have sparked a much-needed round of media coverage for his stalled campaign.

The Chicago Tribune has a handy delegate cheat sheet here, which includes a little background on how each state's delegates are handed out. In all, more than a fifth of all delegates that will be won during the GOP nominating season will be awarded by the ten states that took part in Super Tuesday. The final delegate math will have to wait until all of the votes are tallied, but when all is said and done Romney is all but certain to widen his existing delegate lead. 

Here were the latest numbers as of midnight:

Georgia, 76 delegates, (96 percent reporting)
Gingrich 47.5 percent,
Romney 25.7,
Santorum 19.6,
Paul 6.5.

Vermont, 17 delegates, (74 percent)
Romney 40.4 percent,
Paul 25.1,
Santorum 23.4,
Gingrich 8.3.

Virginia, 49 delegates, (100 percent)
Romney 59.5 percent,
Paul 40.5.

Massachusetts, 41 delegates, (98 percent)
Romney 72.1 percent,
Santorum 12.1,
Paul 9.6,
Gingrich 4.6.

Idaho, 32 delegates, (68 percent)
Romney 73.3 percent,
Paul 15.6,
Santorum 8.7,
Gingrich 2.3.

Tennessee, 58 delegates, (96 percent)
Santorum 37.2 percent,
Romney 28.0,
Gingrich 23.9,
Paul 9.1.

Oklahoma, 43 delegates, (98 percent)
Santorum 33.8 percent,
Romney 28.0,
Gingrich 27.5,
Paul 9.6.

North Dakota, 28 delegates, (100 percent)
Santorum 40.0 percent,
Paul 27.1,
Romney 24.3,
Gingrich 8.6.

Alaska, 27 delegates: n/a