Santorum wins Louisiana plurality

Fox News:

The polls are now closed in Louisiana, and Fox News is projecting that Rick Santorum will win by a comfortable margin, leaving Mitt Romney to finish second, Newt Gingrich third and Ron Paul fourth. 

Santorum did well with evangelical and conservative voters in Louisiana, as he has in other Deep South states. But tonight he also edged out Romney among self-described moderate voters and those who consider the economy the most important issue, according to Fox News exit polls.

The former Massachusetts governor and frontrunner has amassed more than twice as many delegates as Santorum nationwide and is nearly halfway to the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the Republican presidential nomination. 

There are 20 delegates up for grabs tonight in Louisiana, although it is not yet clear how those delegates, which are allocated proportionately, will be divided among the candidates. It does appear that Santorum will win a plurality of the delegates. 

Santorum has now won 11 states, while Romney has won 21 states or territories. Gingrich has won two states, while Paul has not won any. 

The exit polls of Republican voters suggest the electorate there is about as conservative as in other Southern states. And like voters nationwide, they say the economy remains the big issue. 

The polls closed at 8 p.m. local time. Santorum had a double-digit lead through most of the week. 

Romney enters the Louisiana primary after a solid, 12-percentage point victory Tuesday in Illinois over Santorum, his closest rival. But Louisiana will be one of Romney's last chances to show he can win in the Deep South before the campaigns head north for roughly the next six weeks.

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Santorum needs to win by a lot to get back in contention.  His path to the nomination is getting steeper with each contest, including the ones he is winning like this one.   He is currently leading in Texas polls, but that election is in May.

I find myself getting bored with this drawn out process.