By DAVID ESPO ~ AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) – Rick Santorum won the Kansas caucuses in a rout on Saturday over Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, a weekend prelude to suddenly pivotal Southern showdowns in the week ahead.

Santorum picked up at least 30 of the state’s 40 delegates at stake, cutting slightly into Romney’s overwhelming’s advantage.

Santorum’s triumph came as the candidates pointed toward Tuesday’s primaries in Alabama and Mississippi that loom as unexpectedly important in the race to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama in the fall.

Polls show a close race in both states, particularly Alabama, and Romney, Gingrich and Santorum all added to their television advertising overnight for the race’s final days.

Romney, the front-runner by far in the delegate competition, padded his lead overnight when he won all nine delegates on the island of Guam and then again in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Romney had 440 delegates in the AP’s count, more than all his rivals combined. Santorum had 213, while Gingrich had 107 and Paul had 46.

A candidate must win 1,144 to clinch the Republican presidential nomination at the national convention in Tampa next August.

Romney did not campaign in Kansas, leaving the field to Santorum and Paul.

Gingrich cancelled a scheduled trip to the state late in the week to concentrate on the two Southern primaries on Tuesday.

Paul and Santorum both campaigned in the state on Friday, and Gov. Sam Brownback appeared with each, without making an endorsement.

In Topeka, Paul told an audience of about 500 that Kansas should be a “fertile field” for his libertarian-leaning views but declined to say how many delegates he hoped to gain.

Santorum, who hopes to drive Gingrich from the race in the coming week, lashed out at Obama and Romney simultaneously in remarks in the Kansas capital city.

“We already have one president who doesn’t tell the truth to the American people. We don’t need another,” he said.

An aide to Gingrich said earlier in the week that the former House speaker must win both Southern primaries to justify continuing in the campaign.

But Gingrich strongly suggested otherwise on Friday as polls showed a tight three-way contest in Alabama.

“I think there’s a fair chance we’ll win,” he told The Associated Press about the contests in Alabama and Mississippi. “But I just want to set this to rest once and for all. We’re going
to Tampa.”

Romney had no campaign appearances Saturday. The former Massachusetts governor won six of 10 Super Tuesday states earlier in the week, and hopes for a Southern breakthrough in Alabama on Tuesday after earlier losing South Carolina and Georgia to Gingrich.
—
Associated Press reporters Stephen Ohlemacher in Washington,
Thomas Beaumont in Alabama and Phil Elliott, John Hanna and John
Milburn in Kansas contributed to this report.

Reno County Totals

Rick Santorum 307
Mitt Romney 125
Newt Gingrich 96
Ron Paul 57
Michelle Bachman 1
Rick Perry 1
Herman Cain 1
Uncommitted 3
Invalid 4

Total 605 cast locally

Statewide totals so far

127 of 127 precincts – 100 percent

Rick Santorum, 15,290 – 51 percent
Mitt Romney, 6,250 – 21 percent
Newt Gingrich, 4,298 – 14 percent
Ron Paul, 3,767 – 13 percent
Uncommitted, 122 – 0 percent
Herman Cain, 39 – 0 percent
Jon Huntsman, 38 – 0 percent
Rick Perry, 37 – 0 percent
Michele Bachmann, 16 – 0 percent