Newt Gingrich, whose candidacy was left for dead in June and then again earlier this month, scored a stunning victory over Mitt Romney here that has reshaped the Republican presidential primary and called into question Romney's ability to win the nomination.
As soon as the polls closed in South Carolina at 7 p.m., the major TV networks called the race for Gingrich. With 99 percent of the vote counted, Gingrich was at 40.3 percent to Romney's 27.9 percent, with former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) at 17 percent and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) at 13 percent, the Associated Press reported.
"Thank you South Carolina! Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida," Gingrich tweeted soon after the race was called, directing people to where they could give money to his campaign.
Later Gingrich used his 23-minute victory speech to build on the themes that drove his popularity through the roof in this Southern state: deep resentment among conservatives of the influence of liberals in the press and other cultural institutions.
"The American people feel that they have elites who have been trying for a half century to force us to quit being American," Gingrich said.
"The elites in Washington and New York have no understanding, no care, no concern, no reliability, and in fact, do not represent them at all," he said.
Gingrich did not mention Romney by name and referred to him only twice, once to praise him as "a good example of America," and a second time to point out that Romney has a much better financed campaign.
