Reuters: Top News: Exit polls show Romney, Santorum leading in Deep South

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Exit polls show Romney, Santorum leading in Deep South Mar 14th 2012, 00:40 1 of 13. Republican presidential candidates former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) listen as former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (C) speaks as they participate in a Republican presidential candidates debate in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, January 16, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Charles Dharapak/POOL By John Whitesides and Deborah Charles BIRMINGHAM, Alabama | Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:40pm EDT BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Republicans Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich faced off in a pair of high-stakes Deep South presidential primaries on Tuesday, with exit polls showing a very tight race. The contests are critical for all three top contenders in a volatile Republican White House campaign that already has featured numerous surges, collapses and voter mood swings. The exit polls, as reported by CNN, gave Romney a slight lead in Mississippi and Santorum a small lead in Alabama, but no actual vote totals had been reported. A victory for Romney in either state would be a critical breakthrough that could put the front-runner on a path to the nomination by proving his ability to appeal to the party's core conservatives in the Deep South. Gingrich, who represented Georgia in Congress, needs a win in Alabama or Mississippi to keep his struggling campaign afloat. Santorum hopes to knock Gingrich out of the race and consolidate conservative opposition to Romney. The Republican showdowns in the Deep South, a party stronghold in the general election, are a crucial test in the battle between Santorum and Gingrich to become the conservative alternative to shaky front-runner Romney. Both states were a three-way dead heat heading into Tuesday's voting, with Romney showing surprising strength as Santorum and Gingrich split the states' big bloc of very conservative, evangelical voters. The CNN exit polls showed Romney at 33 percent in Mississippi, Santorum at 31 percent, and Gingrich with 30 percent. In Alabama, Santorum had 34 percent, Romney 29 percent and Gingrich 28 percent, the exit polls showed. Gingrich and Santorum have urged each other to get out of the race, but Gingrich indicated in a radio interview on Tuesday that he and the former Pennsylvania senator eventually could form a united front against Romney. "I wouldn't be surprised once we're through the primaries, if it still looks like it does right now, to see the conservatives come together," Gingrich said on the "Rick & Bubba Show" in Birmingham, Alabama. "A majority (of Republican voters) are saying, ‘Not Romney,'" said Gingrich, a former speaker of the House of Representatives. "The biggest bloc is saying Romney, but it's not a big enough bloc to be a majority. We now are beginning to think he will literally not be able to get the delegates to get the nomination." Romney has opened a big lead in delegates in the Republican race to pick a challenger to President Barack Obama in the November 6 election, but he has been unable to capture the hearts of conservatives who distrust him for some of the moderate stances he took as governor of liberal Massachusetts. (Editing by Eric Beech) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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