KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana News Weather & SportsRomney claims Iowa victory by just 8 votes

(RNN) - By a margin of just eight votes, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney squeaked past former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum to claim victory at Tuesday's Iowa caucus, a sign that the race for the GOP nomination remains too close to call.

"You are working, and I am working and we're all working together because of our passion for this country and our concern that it's being led by a president who may be a nice guy but just is over his head," Romney said while addressing supporters Tuesday night.

But the true star of the evening was the late-surging Santorum, who campaigned on a fraction of Romney's spending.

"You, by standing up and not compromising, by standing up and being bold and leading, leading with that burden and responsibility you have to be first, you have taken the first step of taking back this country," Santorum said Tuesday evening as he thanked voters.

Santorum boldly declared "game on," as he took swipes at Romney for his Massachusetts healthcare initiative. During a vigorous campaign in Iowa, Santorum had presented himself as the true conservative in the race, a message that seemed to resonate with a large group of conservatives who remain skeptical of the one-term governor's track record.

Still, an Associated Press entrance poll of GOP voters showed that voters believed Romney was the candidate who could beat Obama.

"Given a choice of four qualities they wanted in their party's nominee, about 3 in 10 said they wanted someone who could defeat Obama this fall," the news agency reported. "Forty-eight percent of that group said they were backing Romney, more than twice as many as cited any other candidate."

On par with recent comments, Romney focused his criticism not on his fellow Republican nominees but instead on Democratic President Barack Obama, who he hopes to challenge for the White House in November.

"You know, four years ago tonight, he was giving a victory celebration speech here in Des Moines, and he'd been going across the state making all sorts of promises," Romney said of the president. "The gap between his promises four years ago and his performance is as great as anything I've ever seen in my life."

Voters cast their ballot for their Republican presidential candidate of choice at one of the state's 809 caucus sites Tuesday night. In the end, Romney beat Santorum by 30,015 votes to 30,007. Both candidates failed to gain 25 percent of the total vote.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul also made a strong showing, finishing in third with 26,219 ballots cast, or 21 percent of the total vote. 

"We have tremendous opportunity to continue this momentum," Paul said to supporters at his Iowa headquarters Tuesday night. "This movement is going to continue, and we are going to keep scoring, just as we have tonight."

Despite the single-digit win in the Tuesday's election, there will be no recount in Iowa, according to the Associated Press.

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, finished in fourth place with 13 percent of the vote. Gingrich told supporters he's convinced the Republican Party will choose "someone with a track record of changing Washington."

"It's not just about beating [President Barack] Obama, as important as that is. It's about what do we need to do as a country to get back on track," Gingrich said. "That's a lot bigger than just replacing one person in the White House." 

After a disappointing finish, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who came in fifth place with 10 percent of the vote, told supporters he would return home to "assess the results of tonight's caucus and determine if there is a path forward for me in this race."

Despite finighing in sixth place in her home state's caucus, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann remained upbeat, pledging to move forward with her campaign.

"I believe I am that true conservative who can and will defeat Barack Obama in 2012," she said.

Bachmann's optimism waned by Wednesday morning, however, as she suspended her campaign. Although she won the state's summer straw poll, the Tea Party favorite claimed just 6,073 votes, a devastating blow for a campaign hinged tightly on success in Iowa.

"Last night, the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice, and so I have decided to stand aside," Bachmann said Wednesday morning in Des Moines.

In an advance Des Moines Register poll released Saturday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney led with 24 percent of potential voters' support.

Paul came in second with 22 percent of votes, and Santorum followed with 15 percent. Gingrich garnered 12 percent of votes, Perry 11 percent and Bachmann 7 percent.

With the exception of Santorum, each of the candidates led the polls at some point of the primary campaign. Herman Cain, who suspended his campaign in December, also held the lead for a time.

The Iowa caucuses have a mixed history of naming the eventual Republican nominee for president. During the 2008 race eventually won by Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won with 34 percent of the votes, followed by Romney at 25 percent.

But in 2000, voters in Iowa supported eventual nominee George W. Bush. A majority also voted for the 1996 Republican nominee, Bob Dole.

Iowans also picked the eventual nominee in the last three Democratic caucuses: Barack Obama, John Kerry and Al Gore. The incumbent's party also holds a caucus, but Obama is not expected to have any significant opposition.

While Iowa has not necessarily determined a winner in the race for the nomination, it has typically thinned the crowd of candidates who do not have a solid showing, as in Bachmann's case.

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