GOP candidates look to Super Tuesday

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Rick Santorum seized about as many of Michigan's GOP delegates as primary winner Mitt Romney, and could end up with more, in a close contest that does little to clarify the muddled presidential race heading into Super Tuesday.

After Romney's strong win in Arizona and close finish in his native state of Michigan, the GOP field fanned across Ohio, Tennessee and Georgia for the weeklong sprint to Tuesday's 10 contests. Washington state's caucuses fall in the middle, on Saturday.

Romney tried to build momentum from his wins, Santorum crowed about his near-miss and Newt Gingrich looked to revive his campaign in the South, where he will battle Santorum for the party's most conservative voters.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul could also be a factor in the Super Tuesday delegate count, especially in caucus states such as North Dakota.

Tuesday's Michigan race was so close -- Romney won the contest with 41 percent of the vote to Santorum's 38 percent -- that the delegates will be closely divided between the top two candidates, with Gingrich and Paul getting none. With 26 of the state's 30 delegates decided, Romney and Santorum each won 13.

Results that will determine the distribution of the final four delegates were incomplete yesterday. But Santorum held a slight edge that would give him the majority of Michigan's delegates.

Campaigning Wednesday at Temple Baptist Church in Powell, Tenn., Santorum said he was heartened by his success in Romney's backyard.

"We had a much better night in Michigan than maybe was first reported. This was a really great race to go into, in a sense, the belly of the beast, the hometown of my chief rival here in the Republican primary," he said.

In addition to Tennessee, the former Pennsylvania senator is focusing on Ohio and Oklahoma next week.

Romney acknowledged in Michigan that he had made mistakes and was trying to "do better and work harder."

Yesterday, Romney focused on the economy and business know-how, saying at a fence post factory in Toledo that he wants "to go to work for the American worker."

He promised about 150 supporters "more jobs, less debt and smaller government" if he's elected in November.