Rick Santorum is projected to win the Minnesota Republican presidential caucuses, after earlier winning the non-binding Missouri primary.
Santorum is also ahead in early returns out of Colorado. The former Pennsylvania senator could be looking at the best night of his campaign since Iowa, in which he was belatedly declared the winner. For the first time in weeks, he — and not Newt Gingrich — was posing the biggest challenge to frontrunner Mitt Romney.
With 37 percent of precincts reporting in Minnesota, Santorum was ahead with 46 percent. Ron Paul was pulling in second with 26 percent, followed by Romney and Gingrich.
Santorum was also leading in Colorado, followed by Gingrich in second, and Romney and Paul at the back. A total of 70 delegates are up for grabs in those two states Tuesday, though the caucuses are just the start of a lengthy delegate-allocating process.
