Full coverage: Rick Santorum

Charlie Riedel / Associated Press

Rick Santorum

Fmr. Pennsylvania senator | Age 53
Declared June 6, 2011

A hero to many on the right for his social and fiscal conservative stances, Santorum will have to battle and outshine better-known Republicans — including several who carry the hard-right conservative banner.

He badly lost his 2006 Senate reelection bid in Pennsylvania, an important swing state, raising questions about his chances nationwide.

Santorum is married with seven children.

— Associated Press

10:57 AM PST, January 10, 2012

Fear the vest? Santorum markets signature sweater

You too can look like Rick Santorum, the Sleeveless Wonder who almost won (or won) last week’s Iowa caucuses.

5:38 PM PST, January 8, 2012

Rick Santorum says South Carolina his 'best chance to win'

Rick Santorum's campaign continued to gain momentum Sunday as he made two campaign stops in South Carolina, where he was met with cheering crowds and picked up an endorsement from conservative leader Gary Bauer.

7:19 AM PST, January 8, 2012

GOP debate: Romney, Santorum grilled on gay rights

Mitt Romney was reminded Sunday morning on the NBC/Facebook debate stage of a pledge he made in 1984, that he would “be a voice in the Republican Party to foster anti-discimination efforts” in the gay community.

2:47 PM PST, January 6, 2012

Can Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum measure up to Reagan?

Rick Santorum has stoically deflected the jeers of pro-gay marriage young Republicans in New Hampshire. Mitt Romney jauntily sloughs off Newt Gingrich’s daily rhetorical darts. But there is a bigger challenge all the presidential candidates are failing: the Ronald Reagan measure.

7:49 AM PST, January 6, 2012

Rick Santorum jeered after comparing gay marriage to polygamy

Those skeptical of whether Rick Santorum has what it takes to win a general-election contest this fall have focused on, among other things, his drumbeating on social issues in a year when Republican strategists believe hitting President Obama on the economy is the way to win the White House.

1:48 PM PST, January 6, 2012

After late surge, Rick Santorum could miss state ballot deadlines

Rick Santorum’s surging campaign now must contend with increased scrutiny of his legislative and personal record, but it is one of the most rudimentary campaign steps that could foil his chance for success: getting on the ballot.

1:59 PM PST, January 6, 2012

Santorum tangles with voters over gay marriage, health insurance

In town hall meetings across the southern portion of New Hampshire on Friday, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum continued to tangle with voters over the social issues that shaped his image on the national political stage long before he vaulted into prominence this week as a rival to GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney.

6:22 PM PST, January 4, 2012

Rick Santorum, in pitch to New Hampshire: 'Lead and be bold'

The night after his narrow loss to Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses, Rick Santorum argued that he was the authentic conservative in the Republican presidential race and urged New Hampshire voters to ignore his position in the polls.

10:40 PM PST, January 3, 2012

Rick Santorum wins his own kind of victory in Iowa

At the strike of midnight in Iowa, five votes separated Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney with almost all of the returns in from the GOP caucuses counted, but the final tally had long ceased to matter.

10:17 PM PST, January 3, 2012

Mitt Romney declares victory -- for himself, Santorum and Paul

Tuesday night was tense at Mitt Romney’s caucus night party, as hundreds of supporters stood in a stuffy ballroom for hours, their eyes glued to a large screen showing Fox News’ running tally of the caucus results. The crowd would burst into cheers every time Romney shot into a slim lead, and grow silent or groan when Santorum overtook him.

9:47 PM PST, January 3, 2012

Iowa caucuses ending in virtual tie between Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum

In the closest finish in the history of the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum were locked in a virtual dead heat in the first battle for the Republican presidential nomination.

8:30 PM PST, January 3, 2012

Santorum supporters watch Iowa caucus returns in disbelief

Rick Santorum’s supporters eyed the TV screen, watched the returns roll in — and they still couldn’t quite believe it.

12:30 PM PST, January 3, 2012

Jon Huntsman heartened by Rick Santorum's rise in Iowa

If any candidate has taken pleasure in watching former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum's surge in Iowa, it is Jon Huntsman Jr., who has focused his presidential campaign almost exclusively on winning New Hampshire.

8:54 AM PST, January 3, 2012

Rick Santorum confident that surge will last beyond Iowa [Video]

Rick Santorum's last-minute surge has him just hours away from what might be a stunning top-three finish in the Iowa caucuses, and even with a resource-starved campaign, the former senator vows it's only the beginning.

3:07 PM PST, January 1, 2012

Romney takes gentle swipe at Santorum at Iowa stop

Mitt Romney, facing an insurgent challenge in the days leading up to the Iowa caucuses, greeted voters at a diner here on Sunday and took only the gentlest jabs at Rick Santorum, who has surged suddenly in the polls.

10:29 AM PST, December 30, 2011

Iowa poll: Santorum surges as Gingrich fades, Romney leads

While Mitt Romney and Ron Paul lead the pack among GOP candidates favored by likely Iowa caucus-goers, Rick Santorum’s surge continues, according to a new NBC/Marist poll released Friday.

1:00 PM PST, December 28, 2011

Romney leads, Santorum surges in new Iowa poll

Mitt Romney has claimed a narrow lead over Ron Paul in Iowa, according to a new CNN/Time poll. But it is Rick Santorum who may be showing the most momentum with just days left before the caucuses.

4:40 PM PST, December 26, 2011

Santorum fails to bag endorsement from Iowa's King

It was a ringing non-endorsement on a surprisingly slow news day here, considering the first votes of the 2012 presidential cycle are to be cast in a week. Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, the only candidate in the state today, went pheasant hunting with Iowa U.S. Rep. Steve King, an evangelical conservative. The former Pennsylvania senator killed some black pheasant and quail but failed to bag the endorsement of the influential Republican leader.

9:56 AM PST, December 20, 2011

Prominent Iowa evangelical leaders throw support to Rick Santorum

The Family Leader, an influential political organization among the religious voters who dominate the Iowa caucuses, is not endorsing a candidate in the presidential contest, but two prominent evangelical leaders backed Rick Santorum on Tuesday.

9:54 AM PDT, October 10, 2011

Rick Santorum still lags behind others in fundraising

Rick Santorum will report a summer fundraising total slightly higher than the $582,000 that his presidential campaign raised last spring, the former Pennsylvania senator said Sunday in an interview with Fox News.

11:58 AM PDT, June 6, 2011

Rick Santorum: 'I'm ready to lead'

Rick Santorum launched his White House bid from ancestral turf Monday, imploring an enthusiastic crowd of several hundred to join his fight.

9:20 AM PDT, September 21, 2011

Rick Santorum tries to solve his Google problem

Presidential hopeful and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum doesn't make headlines like his other Republican contenders, but his name was trending sixth Wednesday in nationwide Google searches. And it's not because of a policy speech or a surge in the polls. It's because he talked about his "Google problem."

9:26 AM PDT, June 10, 2011

Rick Santorum launches radio ad for presidential campaign

If the Republican presidential nomination was awarded to the candidate with the most persistence, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum would surely emerge victorious. He first visited Iowa back in 2009 and has been out-touring the other candidates at a frenzied pace in the early primary states for months.

1:15 PM PDT, May 26, 2011

Rick Santorum to announce White House plans June 6

Rick Santorum returns to where he first struck political gold to officially announce what everyone already knows -- he's running for president.

8:40 PM PDT, April 13, 2011

Santorum announces presidential exploratory effort

Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who was suspended from a paid gig with Fox News Channel in March, returned to the network Wednesday night to announce that he was forming an exploratory committee to run for president.

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