Rick Santorum Beats Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney in Alabama

The Republican presidential race turned to Alabama and Mississippi, two states almost assured to rally behind whoever emerges with the GOP nomination in November, and Rick Santorum won Alabama by a small margin over Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.

With 53 percent of the votes counted, Santorum won Alabama, which had 50 delegates on the line, with 35 percent, followed by Gingrich with 30 percent and Romney with 28 percent. Ron Paul trailed with 5 percent.

Santorum received some last-minute support. In Alabama, Gov. Robert Bentley used a morning radio show to announce he had voted for the former senator from Pennsylvania.

Romney had been counting on the support of many Republican leaders in Alabama, including former Gov. Bob Riley, who received some buzz as a potential candidate for the GOP nomination early in the election cycle.