Santorum Wins in Kansas; Mitt Takes Wyoming

Rick Santorum whalloped Mitt Romney in the Kansas caucuses today, but Mitt struck back with a smaller victory in Wyoming. In Kansas, Santorum won 52% of the votes, Romney 21%, Newt Gingrich 14%, and Ron Paul 13%, CNN reports. "This is ... further evidence that conservatives and tea party loyalists are uniting behind Rick as the true, consistent conservative in this race," said a Santorum spokesperson. Romney and Gingrich didn't even campaign in Kansas, where evangelicals like Santorum's take on issues such as abortion rights and same-sex marriage.

But because the state divvies up its 40 delegates proportionally, Santorum won only 33 and Romney took seven. In Wyoming, Romney picked up seven of 12 delegates, Santorum took three, Paul one, and one was uncommitted, the AP reports. Romney snagged an additional seven delegates and Paul one more in the Virgin Islands. By AP's count, Romney now has 454 delegates, Santorum 217, Gingrich 107, and Paul 47. A candidate needs 1,144 to clinch the Republican nomination. Next up for the GOP: key southern primaries in Alabama and Mississippi. (More Rick Santorum 2012 stories.)