Washington state takes its turn in Republican race

Republican White House hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum looked for a boost Saturday in Washington state where voters picked their preferred nominee ahead of Super Tuesday next week. Voting in caucuses here, part of the state-by-state Republican race to pick the party's candidate to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama, ended around noon and results were expected around 5:00 pm (0100 GMT Sunday). Romney and Santorum are seeking to harness momentum before Super Tuesday, when 10 states select their favored Republican presidential nominee, but Texas congressman Ron Paul, lagging behind overall, was aiming for an upset victory. Romney held a brief rally on Saturday morning before departing, leaving Paul as the only of the four remaining nominees to stay in the far northwestern state bordering Canada. Paul's campaign team is awaiting the results in Seattle, hoping strong organization can deliver his first win. So far the three other remaining candidates, including former House speaker Newt Gingrich, have enjoyed a brief spot as frontrunner but no clear winner has yet emerged to take on Obama in the November elections. Voters flocked to Saturday's caucuses, enthused that Washington state, which is usually little more than an afterthought in an election year, was attracting attention due to the tight race. "Usually it doesn't matter. It's just really exciting that Washington's caucus is important," first-time caucus-goer Erin Haick told AFP, waiting to vote as the caucus in a Seattle high school was delayed. The 30-year-old worker at a non-profit group was voting for Santorum as the former senator from Pennsylvania has been a "consistent conservative and I don't feel the same way about the other candidates." The latest Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey on Friday gave the lead in Washington to former Massachusetts governor Romney with 37 percent against 32 percent for Santorum, 16 percent for Paul, and 13 percent for Gingrich. Any win though will be largely symbolic. Although Washington state has 43 delegates to the Republican Party convention which will crown the nominee, these will be chosen at a later date and Saturday's results are non-binding. To win the nomination a candidate has to secure a total of 1,144 delegates, so the results from Tuesday's votes in 10 states with about 400 delegates up for grabs are pivotal. In the volatile race, Romney has so far won six states, Santorum four and Gingrich one. Romney has secured more than 150 delegates, with Santorum close to 70, according to a count by the website Real Clear Politics. In a sign of how tight the delegate battle is, Santorum's lawyers filed a complaint over the allocation of delegates in Michigan. But there was a further setback for Santorum on Saturday as he failed to get onto the ballot in some districts in Ohio, meaning he will not be eligible for 18 out of the 48 delegates in the state. Romney campaign staff hit out at what they called "organizational incompetence," denouncing their main rival's slip up. Santorum had "flunked" a test of his organizational skills, Ben Ginsberg, national counsel for the Romney campaign, told reporters on a conference call. "That is a failure that goes... to the organizational deficiencies that should give Republican voters great pause as we prepare to face Obama," he said. Tuesday's primaries will be held in Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia, while Alaska, Idaho and North Dakota will hold caucuses.