Tag: Iowa caucus

Santorum, Romney in Iowa Dead Heat

In the closest voting in Iowa Caucus history, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum finished in a virtual dead heat last night. Romney polled 30,015 votes to Santorum’s 30,007, or 25 percent of the vote each.

Ron Paul took third place with 21 percent of the vote. Newt Gingrich limped out of Iowa in fourth place with 13 percent after leading the polls just two weeks ago.

Rick Perry polled just 10 percent for a fifth place finish and may be on the way out of the race for the nomination. Perry told his supporters he was returning to Texas to “reassess” his campaign rather than moving directly to South Carolina as had been planned.

Michelle Bachmann polled five percent of the vote and Jon Huntsman polled just under one percent.

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Kelly Payne on the Ground in Iowa

South Carolina high school teacher and political activist Kelly Payne donated part of her Christmas vacation to work in Iowa as a volunteer for the Michelle Bachmann campaign.

“I was excited they felt comfortable enough with me to ask me to help,” said Payne. “I pitched in and did whatever was needed.”

A social studies teacher at Dutch Fork High School, Payne also teaches a government and civics elective class that has drawn statewide attention. She created IT Kids, turning her classroom into one of the top political forums in the state with many legislators and top officeholders, across the political spectrum, giving her students an up close and personal view of state government.

“I will be bringing my experiences in Iowa back to the classroom so my students can share in the experience of grassroots politics,” said Payne.

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