CAMPAIGN 2012

Romney Wins Alaska

Updated: March 7, 2012 | 11:55 a.m.
March 7, 2012 | 5:40 a.m.

The Associated Press projected that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won the Alaska caucuses on Tuesday, denying Texas Rep. Ron Paul an outright win among the 10 states competing on Super Tuesday.

Romney won Alaska in 2008, and Paul was the only candidate to campaign there this year, aiming for at least a share of the state's 24 delegates. This time around, Romney won 33 percent of the vote, with 96 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press.

The win in Alaska for Romney came on top of a big victory in Ohio, as well as wins in Virginia, Vermont, Idaho and Massachusetts over Rick Santorum. The former senator from Pennsylvania was declared the victor in three states, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Paul got 24 percent of the vote, behind Romney and Rick Santorum's 29 percent. according to the AP. Paul held a rally in Fairbanks on Sunday that drew more than 1,000 people and another in Anchorage that drew about 1,500. 

CNN caught former Gov. Sarah Palin casting her vote in Wasilla. She said later on Fox Business Network that she had voted for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who won only Georgia.

Romney's margin of victory in Alaska was less than four years ago, when he captured 44 percent. Sen. John McCain got just 16 percent that year, but after winning the GOP nomination -- and choosing Palin as his running mate -- he easily took the state over Barack Obama, 59 percent to 38 percent.

According to the Alaska Republican Party, more than 13,200 people voted on Tuesday, slightly less than in 2008.

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