National Government Santorum Wins Mississippi and Alabama Primaries

photo by Gage Skidmore

BRADENTON -- Rick Santorum won both Republican primaries in Mississippi and Alabama on Tuesday, raising serious concerns about front-runner Mitt Romney's ability to succeed in southern states. At night's end, it looked like he would also end up trailing Newt Gingrich in both state's final count.

Prior to the contests, there was talk of pressure on Newt Gingrich to drop out of the race to allow Christian conservatives to rally around a single Romney alternative. Santorum suggested a head to head competition between he and Romney was needed sooner rather than later, without directly saying Gingrich should bow out.

The former speaker has no apparent path to the nomination and many Republicans feel he and Santorum are sharing much of the same voting bloc. Congressman Ron Paul put in his worst performance thus far, failing to get more than 5 percent in either race.