Mitt Romney won the support of those attending Republican presidential caucuses in Maine on Saturday, a key victory the former Massachusetts governor hopes will help him regain momentum after defeats in three nominating contests.
Romney's superior organization and dominating advantage with endorsements of top state Republicans had given him a significant edge in the low-turnout and nonbinding affair.
But Rep. Ron Paul of Texas had aggressively worked the state's grass roots in hopes of snagging his first win of the presidential primary season in Maine.
Romney won 39 percent of the votes of those who took part in a presidential poll at Maine caucus sites, while Paul took 36 percent of the vote and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania captured 18 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won 6 percent.
The tiny Maine race — fewer than 5,600 votes were cast — had taken on increased importance in recent days as Romney struggled to put his campaign back on track after losing to Santorum in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado on Tuesday.
The Maine win came as Romney also won a presidential straw poll of activists attending the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, a key annual gathering of right-leaning Republican activists concluding Saturday in Washington.
Taken together, the dual wins form a major boost for Romney, who has faced tough questions about whether his campaign can excite the conservative base of the Republican party.
At the straw poll, Romney won 38 percent of the 3,408 votes cast, giving him a healthy cushion over the 31 percent won by Santorum. Gingrich won 15 percent of the vote and Paul took 12 percent.
In a statement, Romney said the voters of Maine "sent a clear message that it is past time to send an outsider to the White House, a conservative with a lifetime of experience in the private sector, who can uproot Washington's culture of taxing and spending and borrowing and endless bureaucracy."
But Romney's good day is unlikely to put to rest continued questions from the right wing of the party about his candidacy.
In a Saturday speech at CPAC, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who retains strong support in the conservative base, dismissed calls for a quick end to the Republican contest.
She said the party's "candidate must be someone who can instinctively turn right to constitutional conservative principles. It's too late in the game to teach it or to spin it at this point. It's either there or it isn't."
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