Gov. Terry Branstad called it "a mistake" for Republicans to wait until late Friday night to declare Rick Santorum the winner of the Iowa caucuses, but said he respects the difficulty the head of the state party faced considering how close the vote was.
Republican Party of Iowa chairman Matt Strawn should have moved more quickly to declare Rick Santorum the winner, Branstad said Monday at his weekly news conference.
"It's a difficult circumstance," Branstad said. "We had the largest turnout in Republican caucus history, and we had the closest election by far. It was less than 100 votes."
Strawn said last week that Republicans had certified all but eight precincts, showing Santorum with a 34-vote lead. He said at that time that the party couldn't declare a winner because of the missing precincts. The party's State Central Committee held a telephone meeting and issued a statement late Friday night declaring Santorum the winner.
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Complete article at The Republic : http://bit.ly/x7nK1k
