Rick Santorum was projected the winner of the 2012 Oklahoma primary on Super Tuesday by Fox News.
Santorum had high hopes for the Sooner State. Oklahoma holds 43 delegates, 40 of which are tied to the results of the presidential contest. As for Super Tuesday's battleground, delegates are allocated proportionally based on the results of the contest.
At the polls, conservatives made an impact in Oklahoma. Per the AP:
In the Northeast, more moderate Republicans headed to the polls. Vermont's electorate is the only state where exit or entrance polls have been conducted thus far in the nominating contest in which a majority of Republican voters were moderate or liberal. In contrast, Oklahoma voters are among the most conservative to vote yet. Nearly half of that state's voters identified themselves as "very" conservative – outpacing that group's share of the vote in Oklahoma in both 2008 and 2000.
While Santorum came out on top, Mitt Romney did well with voters in some areas. HuffPost's Amanda Terkel provides a breakdown:
- Can Defeat Obama: Romney won voters who said the most important quality in a candidate was the ability to beat President Barack Obama (43 percent).
- Economy: The economy was the top issue for Oklahoma voters, with 48 percent saying it was the most important issue. (The next-highest issue was the budget deficit, which 32 percent of voters cited.) Romney won voters who cited the economy, while Santorum won budget deficit and abortion voters.
- Religion Not Important: As in other states, Romney again won voters who said a candidate's religion is not important. Thirty-one percent of voters who said religious beliefs mattered "not much" or "not at all" went to Romney. Those who said they mattered a "great deal" or "somewhat' went to Santorum.
County-by-county results can be seen here.
Click here for HuffPost's live blog coverage of Super Tuesday.