Paul came in second to Rick Santorum in the Minnesota Caucus held in February, with 27 percent of the straw poll vote, but with Santorum's exit from the GOP race earlier this month Paul fared better than expected in the final delegate count.



“Ron Paul’s victories today declare his delegate-attainment strategy to be a success and they demonstrate that the media and Washington pundits are undercounting his delegates to the Republican National Convention in Tampa," said Paul campaign manager John Tate in a statement.





Paul, who has nearly $1.8 million cash on hand and no campaign debt, has repeatedly stated he would stay in the race until the very end, and hopes his victory in Minnesota will carry over into other states, including his home state of Texas, where 150 are to be awarded after the May 29 primary."Taken together, these victories and those yet to happen forecast a prominent role for Ron Paul at the RNC. They also signal that the convention will feature a spirited discussion over whether conservatism will triumph over the status quo, all in relation to the end game of defeating President Obama,” said Tate.But Paul is in last place in the delegate count, according to The Associated Press, trailing presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney and the other candidates. Paul has 67 delegates to Romney's 697, Santorum's 269 and Newt Gingrich's 137. It takes 1,144 delegates to cinch the nomination.