Santorum revisits states in delegate bid

WASHINGTON -- Rick Santorum is falling so far behind Mitt Romney in the race for Republican delegates that his best chance might be in states that voted weeks ago.

Santorum is trying to improve his lot in places such as Iowa and Washington, where local caucuses were just the first step in determining delegates to the Republican National Convention.

In those states and a few others, supporters are now preparing for county, congressional district and state conventions, where the campaigns hope to keep their delegates -- and possibly poach some from other candidates. Together, those states have a total of 223 delegates, which will be up for grabs throughout the spring.

In the delegate count, Santorum trails Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, by 300 and he would need to win 74 percent of the delegates in the remaining primaries to clinch the nomination before the national convention in August. So far, Santorum is winning 27 percent, according to the tally by The Associated Press.

But the former Pennsylvania senator's campaign predicts that he will significantly increase his delegate haul in caucus states, primarily at the expense of Romney.

Louisiana holds its GOP primary Saturday, the same day county conventions kick off in Washington state.

Romney leads the race for delegates with 563, including endorsements from Republican National Committee members who automatically attend the convention and can support any candidate they choose, the AP count finds. Santorum has 263 delegates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has 135 and Texas Rep. Ron Paul has 50.

It takes 1,144 delegates to win the Republican nomination.