U.S.: Romney wins in Wyoming, Santorum, Kansas

The favorite in the race for the Republican nomination for U.S. President, Mitt Romney won, Saturday, March 10, the "caucus" (popular assemblies) of Wyoming, before his rival Rick Santorum.

According to the chairman of the Republican party, Tammy Hooper, Mitt Romney won seven of 12 delegates to the Republican National Convention, before the ultraconservative Rick Santorum (three delegates) and Texas Ron Paul (a). Wyoming is the smallest of U.S. states by population, with less than 600,000 inhabitants.

In a statement, Mitt Romney found that his victory was "a step towards the defeat of President Obama," before recalling its commitment to "more jobs, less debt and less administration."

The ultraconservative Rick Santorum has won him the Saturday caucuses in Kansas. After counting 63% of votes, Mr. Santorum, a Catholic a stickler on Christian values, won 53% of the vote against 17% for Mitt Romney, and 16% for Newt Gingrich. The Texan Ron Paul wins 13% of votes.

This caucus was devoid of suspense, since Mr. Santorum has long seemed best able to win the votes of that state deemed very conservative, and where Mitt Romney has not campaigned at all.

In addition, Kansas provides only 40 delegates, these "electors" who are committed to supporting a particular candidate at the convention of the Republican Party in August, which will be referred to the opponent Barack Obama for president.

Mr. Santorum's victory does not change the situation and Mitt Romney retains its status as favorite, with about one third of the 1,144 delegates he needs to be invested. Skipping over Kansas, Mitt Romney has preferred to travel around Alabama and Mississippi, two Southern states that hold their primaries Tuesday.Together, these states offer 90 delegates. Hawaii, which will host the "caucus" on the same day, offers 20 delegates.