Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum racked up a sizeable victory in Missouri's Republican primary last night, winning all the state’s counties and beating his nearest rival, Mitt Romney, by 30 points.
Santorum was the only Republican candidate to campaign for Missouri's primary. He had expressed hope that it could help cement him as a conservative alternative to Romney heading into a big round of state primaries in early March.
A number of Missouri's Republicans, including Sen. Roy Blunt and former Senator and Gov. Jim Talent, endorsed Romney.
Missouri's primary was essentially a glorified public opinion poll. That's because state Republicans chose to award their delegates to the Republican National Convention using a caucus system that will begin in mid-March.