2012 Presidential Election, Caucus | featured news

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is joined by his latest supporter, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as he tries to garner support before the state's upcoming caucuses.

Rick Santorum scored victories in Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado nominating contests Tuesday night, winning him no actual delegates, but nonetheless blocking Mitt Romney's bid to keep alive a streak of victories in the Republican presidential primary. Santorum scored broad victories in the Minnesota caucus and a primary in Missouri, according to NBC News projections. But Santorum's most significant upset came in Colorado, where the state GOP declared him the apparent victor in caucuses there.

Sensing an opening, Romney is stepping up his Iowa campaign and talking about winning the state after months of taking a more low-key approach. He probably will return to Iowa in November and hold a conference call with thousands of Iowa GOP caucus-goers.

The GOP presidential nominating calendar is becoming clearer now that Nevada has agreed to move its caucuses to Feb. 4.