Washington state takes its turn in Republican race

Republican White House rivals Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum were vying for victory Saturday in Washington state as they seek pole position before next week's Super Tuesday contests. But the Saturday caucuses here -- the next stage in the state-by-state Republican race to pick the party's nominee to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama -- could deny them both a boost before 10 states vote on Tuesday. Instead the far northwestern state bordering Canada could end up handing libertarian congressman Ron Paul his first win in the topsy-turvy 2012 race. So far all of the three other remaining candidates, including former House speaker Newt Gingrich, have enjoyed a brief spot as front-runner but no clear winner has yet emerged to take on Obama in the November elections. Texas representative Paul has drawn impassioned supporters among young people and independents with his radical message of smaller government and a withdrawal of all American troops from abroad. And he has traditionally done well in caucus votes -- where groups of supporters huddle in meeting rooms to hear speeches in favor of various candidates before casting their votes. Late Friday he drew hundreds of supporters to a campaign event on the Seattle waterfront. "We keep coming back to Washington because we expect to do real well here," he told a fired-up crowd earlier in the day. Washington state is traditionally a Democratic bastion, but it also has many self-described independent voters who can take part in the Republican caucuses, potentially skewing the results. The latest Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey gave the lead in Washington to Romney with 37 percent against 32 percent for former Pennsylvania senator Santorum, 16 percent for Ron Paul, and 13 percent for Gingrich. "The caucuses are a perfect place for true believers to make their mark, because you really have to care to get up on a Saturday morning and go talk politics with a bunch of strangers," former state GOP chairman Dale Foreman, told the Seattle Times. Foreman, who is the eastern Washington chairman of Romney's campaign, said he expected Romney to win the caucuses, but not by much. The gatherings opened across the state at 10:00 am (1800 GMT) and were to last a few hours, with preliminary results expected in the evening. Santorum and Romney -- who has regained his footing after winning easily in Arizona and surviving a high-stakes primary test in his native Michigan -- will battle hard though for a pre-Super Tuesday boost. Any win will be largely symbolic, as although the state has 43 delegates to the Republican Party convention which will crown the nominee, these will be chosen at a later date and Saturday's results are non-binding. To win the nomination a candidate has to secure a total of 1,144 delegates, so the results from Tuesday's votes in 10 states with more than 430 delegates up for grabs could be a big boost for candidates. In the volatile race, Romney has now won six states, Santorum four and Gingrich one. Romney has more than 150 delegates so far, with Santorum close to 70, according to a count by the website Real Clear Politics. In a sign of how tight the delegate battle is, Santorum's lawyers filed a complaint over the allocation of delegates in Michigan. The staunch Catholic argues that, based on Romney's narrow margin of victory, they should both get 15 delegates. But the state's Republican party has handed 16 to Romney and 14 to Santorum. Addressing supporters in Chillicothe, Ohio, Santorum insisted on Friday he was an anti-establishment candidate who would offer the clearest contrast against Obama. "This election, we need a choice," he argued. "We don't need a choice between Tweedledum and Tweedledee. We need a clear choice." Tuesday's primaries will be held in Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia, while Alaska, Idaho and North Dakota will hold caucuses. With the field so split the results may help consolidate a Republican front-runner, but they are unlikely to determine a winner with the race then set to move to other states. Kansas votes on March 10, followed by Alabama and Mississippi on March 13. Some 130 delegates are up for grabs in the three states. Some experts expect little clarity to emerge after Tuesday, suggesting that the process could drag out through the spring and hurt the eventual nominee.