Rick Santorum and Rick Perry finished
near the bottom in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.
Santorum, who pulled off a last-minute
upset when he lost in Iowa last week to Mitt Romney by just eight
votes, was pushed back to near the bottom of the pack in moderate New
Hampshire.
“We knew it would be tough,”
Santorum told a sparse crowd attending his election night party.
While Santorum appealed to socially
conservative voters in Iowa, his message failed to resonate in more
liberal New Hampshire.
At venue after venue throughout the
week, Santorum was challenged
on his opposition to gay marriage and protesters lined up outside
several appearances.
Santorum drew roughly 9 percent of the
vote, finishing behind fourth place finisher Newt Gingrich.
Rick Perry trailed far behind Santorum
with less than 1 percent of the vote.
The Texas governor quickly dismissed
the primary results as he campaigned in South Carolina.
“Tonight's results in New Hampshire
show the race for 'conservative alternative' to Mitt Romney remains
wide open. I skipped New Hampshire and aimed my campaign right at
conservative South Carolina,” Perry said in a statement. “I have
a head start here.”
“South Carolina picks presidents,”
he added.
Perry and Santorum have signed The
Family Leader's 14-point pledge which asks presidential candidates to
“vigorously” oppose marriage equality. The document's footnotes
suggest that being gay is a choice that may have a negative impact on
public health.
Both have also said they would
reinstate “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” if elected president.
Michele Bachmann, who ended her bid for
the White House after a disappointing Iowa finish, came in seventh in
New Hampshire.