Paul Sancya / AP Photo
Iowa Republicans announced just before midnight Saturday—the day of the South Carolina primary—that Rick Santorum was, in fact, the winner of the Iowa caucus. Mitt Romney had originally been declared the winner of the caucus by a narrow eight-vote margin, but on Jan. 18, eight voting precincts realized their results had not been reported. With the new votes counted, Santorum led by 34 votes, causing the Iowa Republicans to first call it a statistical tie before eventually dealing the blow to Romney. While the squeaker victory for Romney had never a landslide, it doesn’t help him as he trails in South Carolina. Meanwhile, Iowans fear that the confused results could be devastating to the future of their first-in-the-nation vote. “The caucuses have a lot of critics, and for this to happen truly jeopardizes the future of the event,” said Iowa observer David Yepsen.