MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Rick Santorum won the Alabama and Mississippi primaries Tuesday, surprising the political world and dealing a major setback to the campaigns of Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.
“We did it again,” Santorum said to shouts and cheers from supporters shortly after taking the stage at his election night party in Lafayette, Louisiana.
His wins in Alabama and Mississippi came on top of recent victories in Oklahoma and Tennessee last week and in the Kansas caucuses over the weekend.
“This is a grassroots campaign for president. It’s about ordinary folks doing extraordinary things, sort of like America,” he told the crowd.
FOX News called the race in Mississippi as the candidate addressed his supporters.
Santorum noted that his strong performance came despite being outspent by Romney and despite polls showing him behind in both states prior to election day.
He urged voters across the country to “nominate a conservative to go up against Barack Obama, who can take him on on every issue.”
“We are going to win this nomination before that convention,” he added to cheers.
The former Pennsylvania senator received 35 percent of the vote in Alabama ahead of Gingrich’s 30 percent and Romney’s 28 percent.
In Mississippi, he led Gingrich 33 percent to 31 percent while Romney had 30 percent.