Republican presidential nominee front-runner Mitt Romney eked out a close victory in Saturday's Maine caucuses, according to CNN. Romney beat second-place rival Ron Paul 39 percent to 36 percent, ending the week on a high note a few hours after also winning a Conservative Political Action Committee straw poll earlier in the day.
The momentum for this week, which began with Rick Santorum defeating Romney in three key primaries, shifts back to Romney.
Paul, who entered Saturday with a lead in the Maine polls and the hope that he was on his way to his first primary victory, is now 0-9 in primary season. Many are now looking at the Paul campaign as one that may have ended with this loss tonight.
Paul released a statement right after the loss:
"Just remember, the revolution is only beginning," Paul told cheering supporters after the results were announced. "The momentum is going to continue, we're not going away. We're going to be in all these places where we're going to pick up, continue to pick up the delegates, for one good reason — we have the message that America needs at this particular time."
Romney's campaign released a statement right after the Maine caucus victory:
"We stand for conservative principles, liberty and prosperity. All of these are under threat. I'm in this race because I believe that America can be turned around, that we don't have to accept unemployment over 8 percent, a national debt that is as large as our entire economy, and a president who, even as his own policies fail, apologizes for America's past successes," the statement read. "We've had enough. It's time to reverse Barack Obama's legacy of domestic disarray and foreign-policy weakness."
Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, who did not actively campaign in Maine, came in third and fourth place, respectively. With Gingrich's last-place finish, many Republicans may also be calling for him to exit the race and leave it a two-man race between Santorum and Romney to determine the challenger to President Obama.
Read more at CNN.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.