Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum upended the race for the Republican nomination Tuesday, winning three states, including Colorado.

Colorado’s race see-sawed throughout the night until 11 p.m., when Colorado GOP chairman Ryan Call declared Santorum the winner, beating Mitt Romney 40 percent to 35 percent with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

“This is a major upset,” said Denver-based political analyst Floyd Ciruli. “Definitely, there is a new story now.”

Even Romney, who easily won Colorado’s Republican contest in 2008 with 60 percent of the vote, acknowledged in his speech from the Auraria campus his new challenger.

“This was a good night for Rick Santorum, but I still expect to become the nominee,” the former Massachusetts governor said. “I look forward to the contest to come.”

To underscore that it wasn’t his night, Romney narrowly avoided an unexpected attack from a spectator trying to throw glitter on him after he went to shake hands with those in the crowd.

Political watchers said they could feel the momentum change with Tuesday’s results from across the country, where Santorum, who hadn’t won since Iowa’s caucuses, handily won the Missouri primary and Minnesota caucuses.

“This harkens back to 2010, when the Tea Party essentially upset the established Republican candidates for the Colorado governor and Senate races, and it clearly demonstrates that the grass roots of the party remains very conservative and is unwilling to unite behind the presumptive front-runner,” Ciruli said.

Santorum played it smart, Ciruli said.

While Romney and challenger Newt Gingrich exchanged expensive blows before the Florida primary, Santorum went to Colorado and the Midwest to appeal to the conservative arm in the Republican Party. He targeted the three states that would likely have low turnouts and had large numbers of enthusiastic and conservative voters, Ciruli said.

Santorum spent much of last week in Republican-dominated counties in Colorado, urging Tea Party voters to upend Romney’s march to the nomination.

“You have a chance here in Colorado to step up and change this race,” Santorum said to an audience last week in Lone Tree. “Put a conservative in who has a chance to win.”

But does he?

That is the question the Republicans will have to wrestle with, Ciruli said.

While Romney got support from many establishment Republicans in Colorado, such as former Gov. Bill Owens and Attorney General John Suthers, Santorum got support from leaders who are further to the right: former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo and former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton.

“It shows Colorado remains the model out there for the Republicans for the challenges that they face. They are trying to find a candidate who can appeal to both the conservatives in the party and the independent voters,” Ciruli said.

But on Tuesday, it was clear that the contest was between Santorum and Romney in various gymnasiums throughout the state.

Joe Francis, who went to the caucus at Green Mountain Elementary in Lakewood, said he was surprised by the results. Though he supports Ron Paul, he thought Romney would win his Jefferson County precinct. Santorum won.

“It was really unexpected, but it goes to show that you never really know how this will all play out,” Francis said.

County district co-chairman Dave Ehler, said he, too, was surprised.

“I had heard something like this might be happening through the talks, but I didn’t think it would happen. It is interesting,” Ehler said.

Andrew Thenhaur was so caught up in the event he did not realize his candidate, Santorum, had won.

“You’re kidding. Wow. I thought Romney won for sure. Well, now I am really happy,” Thenhaur said.

At the meetings Tuesday, participants took “straw polls” to find out who was the preferred candidate.

But the process for assigning delegates doesn’t stop tonight.

Attendees at the meetings also elect two precinct committee people and delegates to go to the county assembly in late March.

The final consideration for the Colorado’s delegates will be made at the state convention April 14.

Denver Post reporters Kurtis Lee, Kristen Leigh Painter, Matthew Rodriguez, Ryan Parker and Joe Vaccarelli contributed to this report.



Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com

