By Catalina Camia, USA TODAY
DES MOINES -- Mitt Romney eked out an eight-vote victory over Rick Santorum in Iowa's GOP caucuses early Wednesday, after a dramatic night of see-sawing leads in the first contest of the 2012 presidential campaign.
The narrow victory by the former Massachusetts governor, making his second bid for the White House, is the closest Iowa caucus result in history. Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn announced the results -- 30,015 votes for Romney to Santorum's 30,007 -- hours after thousands of voters met with their friends and neighbors to render judgment on the GOP field.
"Game on," declared Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator who was lagging near the bottom of the pack just a few weeks ago.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul finished third followed by former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who was bloodied by a barrage of negative ads from Paul, Romney, and an independent group allied with Romney.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a one-time presidential front-runner, finished a disappointing fifth. He went home to Austin to reassess his White House bid.
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann came in sixth and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, who did not actively compete in Iowa, finished last.
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