A resurgent Rick Santorum swept primaries in Alabama and Mississippi tonight, upending the race for the Republican presidential nomination as he sought to push Newt Gingrich toward the sidelines.
Mitt Romney had hoped to score a victory in Mississippi, but he appeared to be heading to a third-place finish in both contests
"We did it again," Santorum told cheering supporters in Lafayette, Louisiana. He said it was time for conservatives to unite in an effort to defeat Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is the faraway leader in the competition for Republican National Convention delegates.
Gingrich had the most to lose as he struggled for political survival in a part of the country he hoped would fuel one more comeback in the unpredictable race to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama.