Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum won the Tennessee primary, the Associated Press projected, capturing an expected victory in a conservative Southern state where polls showed he enjoyed a comfortable lead over likely second-place finisher Mitt Romney. The winner was projected based on exit polls, with precinct results just starting to come in after polls closed at 8 p.m. EST. Santorum was popular with social conservatives in the state, while Romney had the endorsement of Gov. Bill Haslam, House Speaker Beth Harwell and much of the state's GOP establishment.

Rick Santorum has won the Oklahoma primary, according to an Associated Press projection, giving him a much-needed statewide triumph on Super Tuesday in a dark-red Republican state. The projection came after Santorum was also declared the victor in Tennessee. The former Pennsylvania senator has now won six nominating contests. Forty-three delegates were up for grabs in the Sooner State today, making it the fifth-largest cache up for grabs on Super Tuesday. Of that total, 25 will be awarded on a proportional basis to all candidates with more than 15% of the statewide vote.

Presidential hopeful and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum doesn't make headlines like his other Republican contenders, but his name was trending sixth Wednesday in nationwide Google searches. And it's not because of a policy speech or a surge in the polls. It's because he talked about his "Google problem. " He blasted the Internet company in an interview with Politico Tuesday and reportedly asked Google to remove a site that redefines his name in graphic, sexual terms.

The opposition research and rapid response that flows from the Democratic National Committee is still sharply focused on Mitt Romney, but a national Democratic strategist said Wednesday that as Rick Santorum's star rises Democrats are starting to pay attention to the former Pennsylvania senator. The Democrats are "starting to take him more seriously," the strategist told the Morning Call. "They're starting to poke around more and look into his record. " It's unclear just how seriously the Democrats are taking a Santorum nomination, but if they are readying opposition it means that even they think there's a chance President Obama may not be facing Romney in November.

Rick Santorum has won the North Dakota caucuses, according to a projection from the  Associated Press , the latest in a string of victories for the former Pennsylvania senator in America's heartland. The victory is Santorum's third of the night, coming after projected victories in Tennessee and Oklahoma. He's locked in a close race in Ohio with Mitt Romney. Before Super Tuesday, Santorum had won voting contests in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado. According to the Republican National Committee, no delegates will be apportioned based on tonight's vote in North Dakota.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum officially registered his presidential exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission, allowing him to participate in Thursday's South Carolina debate and putting him even closer to a formal announcement to run for president. Santorum had established a "testing the waters" account last month, but did not file with the FEC. Fox News, the host of the debate, set criteria that to be included a candidate would need to have officially registered an exploratory committee or have announced a formal campaign for president.

Rick Santorum's surge in the Republican primary campaign has inevitably prompted greater scrutiny in the news media and blogosphere. On Tuesday, as he arrived in Arizona for a campaign swing and televised debate, Santorum suggested that he didn't find the attention entirely flattering. Speaking to a Lincoln Day luncheon sponsored by Maricopa County Republicans in Phoenix, Santorum asked the audience: “Will you be the generation that sat on the sidelines and watched as candidate after candidate comes up, and the national media takes their whack at them to try to destroy them in every way possible, as they've done with every single Republican candidate, and as they will between now the election?

Rick Santorum endorsed his onetime rival Mitt Romney in a long email to supporters late Monday night, calling on them to unite behind the cause of defeating President Obama in November.  Santorum, who withdrew from the race last month (and who pointed out in the late-night email that he won 11 states and over 3 million votes), spent many months urging members of his party to back his insurgent effort - arguing that Romney was not sufficiently conservative to stand against Obama in November.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Former Sen. Rick Santorum accused President Obama of creating a “nightmare of dependency” and undermining welfare reform as he became the only one of Mitt Romney's primary rivals to receive a significant speaking role at the Republican convention. In a speech that mentioned Obama frequently, but Romney only in passing, Santorum attacked the president for trying to centralize control over education and for undermining families and freedom. But it was his reprise of an inaccurate Romney campaign attack on Obama over welfare that gave Santorum's speech its hardest edge.