STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum breathed some life back into his presidential campaign on Super Tuesday with wins in Oklahoma and Tennessee, despite narrowly losing to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in Ohio.
Due to its important swing state status, Ohio is considered the most critical contest of the night. Romney narrowly edged Santorum 38 percent to 37 percent.
While votes were still being counted in the Buckeye state, Santorum addressed a packed gymnasium of cheering supporters in the northeastern Ohio town of Steubenville, proclaiming that he is prepared to continue fighting — and winning — in races “across the country.”
“Tonight it’s clear. … We are in this thing,” Santorum said to cheers. “Not because I so badly want to be the most powerful man in this county, it’s because I so badly want to return the power to you.”
He ripped President Obama’s health care overhaul, saying it was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and the main reason he was running for the presidency.
Santorum also highlighted “Romneycare,” the health care law ROmney enacted while governor of Massachusetts. That law, he said, was very similar to Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act.
“This is the beginning of the end of freedom in America,” he warned his supporters, talking about the health care isue. “Once the government has control of you, then they’ve got you.”
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, himself a former senator, told The Daily Caller that he wasn’t surprised by Santorum’s strong performance in the Buckeye State, crediting the candidate’s ability to connect with blue-collar workers and average Americans.
“The surprise is that with three-quarters of the vote in, we are basically in a dead heat,” DeWine said. “He has already won. The entire Ohio establishment is behind Romney.”
DeWine famously switched his allegiance from Romney to Santorum in February.
Santorum’s strong showing could extend an already prolonged Republican nomination process. He said he will not stop fighting, despite being counted out multiple times.
Romney had a strong showing and won races in Vermont, Virginia and Massachusetts. In Virginia only Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul were on the ballot. Paul earned 41 percent of the vote.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich won his home state of Georgia decidedly and tried to play up his win to supporters.
The Santorum camp played the Charlie Daniels Band’s “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” at the Ohio event.