The Iowa Republican Party late Friday declared Rick Santorum the winner of the 2012 Iowa caucuses.

The party earlier this week issued the final canvassed results of the Jan. 3 race, which showed the former Pennsylvania senator overtaking Mitt Romney by a 34-vote margin. But in doing so, it noted that results from eight precincts weren’t certified, which led to confusion over whether it was officially declaring a winner or left the race as a virtual tie.

In a statement released just before midnight Friday, though, the party officially declared Santorum the winner.

“In order to clarify conflicting reports and to affirm the results released Jan. 18 by the Republican Party of Iowa, Chairman Matthew Strawn and the State Central Committee declared senator Rick Santorum the winner of the 2012 Iowa Caucus,” the party wrote.

Results on election night showed Romney with an eight-vote advantage, an apparent win that fed into the former Massachusetts governor’s perception as the likely GOP nominee.

The now-official result favoring Santorum means the first two contests in the 2012 GOP presidential race have been split between Santorum and Romney, who won the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary handily.

Romney and former House speaker Newt Gingrich are the favorites in the third contest, the South Carolina primary, which will be held Saturday.