Mitt Romney edged Rick Santorum by eight votes to win Iowa's Republican presidential caucuses in the opening contest in the campaign to pick a challenger to President Barack Obama, the state party chairman said. Appearing early Wednesday hours after the caucuses had ended, Iowa Republican chairman Matt Strawn said Romney had 30,015 votes, to 30,007 for Santorum, whose campaign only recently gained momentum. The narrow margin, out of more than 122,000 ballots cast, was a fitting conclusion to a race as jumbled as any since Iowa gained the lead-off position in presidential campaigns four decades ago, according to a report of the Associated Press. Texas congressman Ron Paul ran a strong third in the caucuses - evening meetings held at 809 locations across the Midwestern state Tuesday.
