ND: Romney Wins 8 Delegates

By Josh White
Mitt Romney won North Dakota tonight by a wide margin, taking 36 percent of the vote and wrapping up eight of the state's 23 pledged delegates. John McCain got 23 percent of the vote, Ron Paul 21 percent, and Mike Huckabee 20 percent, meaning those three candidates each earned five of North Dakota's delegates. Three more delegates remain uncommitted.

The North Dakota Republicans saw 9,785 votes cast in caucuses across the state, almost exactly what party officials had expected to see. The turnout nearly doubled the last presidential caucuses in 2004, when President George W. Bush was uncontested.

Paul's strong showing, right behind McCain, came shortly after Paul became the only candidate on the ballot to visit North Dakota this week, making campaign stops on a snowy, frozen day. Officials said Paul's grassroots effort probably pulled more voters to the polls and secured him the same number of delegates as McCain and Huckabee.