Romney Wins Maine Caucuses

PORTLAND, Maine (TheStreet) -- Mitt Romney won Maine's Republican caucuses Saturday by a narrow margin over Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

State Republican Chairman Charlie Webster said Saturday that Romney had 2,190 votes vs. 1,996 for Paul, who was the only other candidate to campaign aggressively in Maine, the Associated Press reported.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania won 989 votes, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich got 349, the AP said.

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In what has become a topsy-turvy race for the Republican presidential nomination, Romney's campaign suffered defeat to Santorum in three contests earlier this week: Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado.

Maine's caucuses started Feb. 4, but the results included only 83% of the state's precincts, the AP said.

In Washington County, caucuses originally scheduled for Saturday were postponed until Feb. 18 because of a snowstorm, the news agency reported.

AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets a supporter at an election caucus in Portland, Maine on Saturday.

But Webster said the party wouldn't count any results that came in after Saturday.

"Some caucuses decided not to participate in this poll and will caucus after this announcement," Webster was quoted saying "Their results will not be factored in. The absent votes will not be factored into this announcement after the fact."

Ron Paul said he was disappointed that not all the caucuses' results had been included.

"I wish all the caucuses had met today," Paul was quoted saying by the AP, adding, "It's almost like we could call it a tie."

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