Jeff Haynes / REUTERS
Caucus goers arrive and sign in for the 2012 Iowa Caucus at the UNI Dome on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Jan. 3, 2012.
Updated at 10:55 p.m.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are in a virtual tie for first place in Iowa's Republican caucuses Tuesday.
NBC News projects that Texas Rep. Ron Paul will finish third in a closely-fought battle for the first nominating contest of the 2012 Republican primary.
Iowans began gathering throughout the state at 8 p.m. ET to caucus for their preferred candidate for the GOP nomination. Still-incomplete tabulations of caucus results show Santorum and Romney locked at about 25 percent each of the vote tally shortly before 11 p.m. ET.
Three other candidates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann are also vying to beat expectations and rejuvenate their candidacies in subsequent primary contests in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Gingrich had an edge over Perry in early returns, while Bachmann lags in fifth.
Romney is hoping to score a knock-out punch in Iowa after having scarcely competed in the race until later this fall. His campaign is hoping that a late push in Iowa, plus a victory next Tuesday in New Hampshire (where Romney leads in the polls), could all but clinch the nomination.
Santorum had seemed to emerge in the closing weeks of the campaign as the winner of a virtual game of musical chairs among candidates in Iowa positioning themselves as the anti-Romney candidate.
The former Pennsylvania senator had campaigned in Iowa the “traditional” way, having started to stump there well before any candidate, and becoming the first candidate to visit all of the state’s 99 counties.
Paul, by contrast, is leaning on a somewhat unconventional cocktail of libertarian Republicans, young caucus-goers and anti-establishment minded Republicans to win in Iowa.
His campaign, both in 2008 and 2012, has been notable for its intense enthusiasm from supporters and prolific fundraising. And in Iowa, where the strength of a candidate's organization typically correlates with a strong performance, Paul is hoping his well-organized supporters can help secure victory.
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