Santorum, not Romney, declared winner in Iowa

Santorum Wins Iowa Caucuses

WASHINGTON — The Republican Party on Thursday declared Rick Santorum the winner of the Iowa caucuses, upending frontrunner Mitt Romney who was originally shown to have won the first-in-the-US presidential nomination vote two weeks ago.

A certified vote count showed Santorum 34 votes ahead of Romney, in a sure boost for the social conservative aiming to derail Romney, but the absolute final tally may never be known, as the Iowa Republican Party reported that results from eight precincts from the January 3 vote were missing.

“Just as I did in the early morning hours on January 4, I congratulate senator Santorum and governor Romney on a hard-fought effort during the closest contest in caucus history,” Republican Party of Iowa chairman Matt Strawn said in a statement.