Santorum wins Louisiana but faces tough road

Rick Santorum won handily in Louisiana’s Republican presidential primary Saturday, solidifying his position as Mitt Romney’s last credible challenger as the campaign heads into states that will test whether Santorum can broaden his appeal to less conservative voters.

The former senator from Pennsylvania had been expected to win, but he still campaigned heavily in this Deep South state, seekin to widen his margin over Romney and reinforce his message that he is a trustworthy conservative while Romney is a politician with erasable “Etch A Sketch” views.

“The people in Louisiana sent a loud and clear message: This race is long and far from over,” Santorum said in brief remarks at a low-key celebration in a microbrewery in Green Bay, Wis., his fourth campaign appearance Saturday in Wisconsin, a state that is crucial to his insurgent campaign.

Earlier, at a stop in Bellevue, Santorum joked about the rival is trying to displace. “After you’ve outspent your opponent about 50 to 1, and you still can’t put the race away, at some point you may want to say, ‘Well, you know, maybe I can’t win after all,”’ Santorum said.

With his double-digit victory in Louisiana, Santorum can claim to have the momentum again. But Romney’s second-place finish does little to dampen his drive to the nomination. Only 20 delegates were at stake in Saturday’s primary. Santorum appeared likely to win 10, while Romney could pick up 5.

Romney has an enormous lead in delegates, but still must reach 1,144 to assure him the nomination on the first ballot. Santorum has angrily dismissed the delegate counts as “Romney math,” arguing that they are based on mistaken assumptions.

Ryan Williams, a Romney spokesman, dismissed the win as insignificant. “Rick Santorum is like a football team celebrating a field goal when they are losing by seven touchdowns with less than a minute left in the game,” he said.

But Romney called Santorum and congratulated him as the former senator sat down for a burger, fries and Dark Helmet Schwarzbier. Santorum, surrounded by television cameras, told Romney he would be visiting California soon to raise money. “Probably not as much fundraising as you are,” he said. “But a little fundraising for us. So good luck to you, and thank you so much for calling, Mitt.”

Romney spent little time in Louisiana, making stops in the state’s north and south Friday, criticizing President Obama’s healthcare law at a Metairie shopping mall and his energy policies at a natural gas well in Shreveport. He did not campaign Saturday and held no election party.

Newt Gingrich came in third, followed by Texas congressman Ron Paul. Gingrich appeared to fall short of winning any delegates. His poor showing in Louisiana after he came in second behind Santorum in Alabama and Mississippi could increase calls for him to pull out.

“This is clearly still an open race,” Gingrich said in a statement, vowing to continue his campaign until the convention. The former House speaker has won only in Georgia and South Carolina.

Gingrich, who represented Georgia in Congress, had been counting on the Deep South for a boost. But Santorum, a devout Catholic with a strong antiabortion record, became the favored candidate of the South’s evangelical Christians.

George Bucher, who works in health insurance, was one of several voters in Metairie, west of New Orleans, who said they wished Gingrich still had a chance, but they abandoned him because he was too far behind. “I think he’s got too much baggage, and he just cannot make up the gap,” said the 52-year-old, who, like the other erstwhile Gingrich supporters, chose to vote for Santorum.

In Shreveport, Michael Nash, 38, watched his son play in a T-ball game, describing the scene as “good old conservative values.” He said he would vote for Santorum even though he expected Romney would win the nomination. “Before Mitt shakes up his Etch A Sketch again for November, he needs to know he needs to represent conservatives like us,” Nash said.

Lynne North, a 74-year-old retired paralegal who was voting in Metairie, said, “We like Romney, and we like what he stands for.” But her husband, Donald Masinter, 78, a retired salesman, said he didn’t really know why he voted for Romney. North suggested, “I think he is more well-rounded.” But Masinter replied, “I really didn’t like anybody that much.”

Santorum’s win in Louisiana gives him new life after resounding losses in Puerto Rico and Illinois, but April’s contests present a challenge for the candidate whose success has depended heavily on support from evangelical voters and tea party supporters. The primaries are in the Northeast and Wisconsin, and they will draw more moderate Republican voters.

The next primaries are April 3 in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Santorum failed to make the ballot in the District of Columbia. His best shot is in Wisconsin, where he led in polls taken in February. But a survey completed after Romney’s thumping win in neighboring Illinois put the former Massachusetts governor comfortably ahead.

Then the campaign takes a hiatus until April 24, when New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware hold primaries.

Santorum is investing heavily in winning his home state, which he represented for four years in the U.S. House and 12 years in the Senate. But he failed to win his bid for a third term in the Senate, losing by 18 points.

At a conservative conference Saturday in Milwaukee, Santorum continued the scathing assault on Romney that he launched in Louisiana.

He held up an Etch A Sketch and shook it, evoking a Romney aide’s statement that his boss could reset his positions in the general election campaign.

“When people vote for president, they want to vote for someone they trust,” he said, “someone who’s authentic, someone who won’t say anything to get elected, but will stand up and do what’s right for the people of this country.”

john.hoeffel@latimes.com

michael.finnegan@latimes.com

Hoeffel reported from New Orleans and Finnegan from Green Bay

Times staff writer Alana Semuels in Shreveport, La., contributed to this report.