Turns out Mitt Romney wasn’t the first GOP candidate in 35 years to take Iowa and New Hampshire. In fact, the certification of Iowa caucus votes conducted by the state GOP shows Rick Santorum won – by 34 votes, but the party is officially calling it a “split decision.”
The Des Moines Register was first with the news Thursday morning:
Results from eight precincts are missing — any of which could hold an advantage for Mitt Romney — and will never be recovered and certified, Republican Party of Iowa officials told The Des Moines Register on Wednesday.
GOP officials discovered inaccuracies in 131 precincts, although not all the changes affected the two leaders. Changes in one precinct alone shifted the vote by 50 — a margin greater than the certified tally.
The certified numbers: 29,839 for Santorum and 29,805 for Romney. The turnout: 121,503.
On the night of the Iowa caucuses January 3rd, Mitt Romney was declared the winner by a mere 8 votes.
The Romney campaign, with its focus remaining on locking things up in South Carolina, released the following brief statement Thursday:
“The results from Iowa caucus night revealed a virtual tie. I would like to thank the Iowa Republican Party for their careful attention to the caucus process, and we once again recognize Rick Santorum for his strong performance in the state. The Iowa caucuses, with record turnout, were a great start to defeating President Obama in Iowa and elsewhere in the general election.”
Even though not officially declared the victor at the time, Santorum wasn’t able to parlay his strong showing in Iowa into meaningful momentum in New Hampshire, placing 5th in the vote there a week later. It can of course never be known what impact, if any, being declared the outright winner would have had.
