Results: AK, GA, ID, MA, ND, OH, OK, TN, VT, VA
6:06 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Megyn Kelly says Newt's speech was about a half hour long. Actually, I count 21 minutes or so. But I can see how it might have felt like half an hour.
6:06 PM PT (David Nir): To recap: Mitt Romney's won MA, VA & VT; Newt Gingrich has won GA, and Rick Santorum has won OK & TN. Only OH and the three caucus states (AK, ID, ND) are uncalled.
6:07 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Even the Fox hosts laughing about the Lincoln-Douglass thing. And this speech reminds me that Newt maybe wouldn't benefited from an open ended format. Rambling on forever doesn't quite work for him.
6:09 PM PT (Jed Lewison):
MT @LarrySabato: Turnout in VA (~260,000) is miserable: 5.5% of reg. voters, by far lowest of any VA GOP primary ever. cc @KrystalBall1— @lowkell via web
6:09 PM PT (David Nir): In Ohio's three key congressional primaries, Rep. Jean Schmidt has a single-digit lead over challenger Brad Wenstrup in OH-02 (R); Joyce Beatty and Mary Jo Kilroy are separated by a hair's breadth in OH-03 (D); and Rep. Dennis Kucinich is leading Rep. Marcy Kaptur in OH-09 (D) — but don't be misled by those numbers. Kucinich-friendly areas have been reporting much more quickly than Kaptur's home turf, and things are looking good for her.
6:10 PM PT (Jed Lewison): MSNBC corrects the record on Newt's false claim that President Obama said the only reason he didn't want gas prices to go higher is that he's running for reelection. (Drudge had been pushing this lie earlier.)
6:12 PM PT (David Nir): We're now up to 14% reporting in Ohio, and Santorum has a 5,000 vote lead over Mittens, 38.4% to 36.6%.
6:17 PM PT (Jed Lewison): With Ohio still close to call—but Santorum outperforming the exit polls, apparently—Santorum takes the stage in Steubenville, Ohio.
6:18 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Santorum calls it a "victory party."
6:18 PM PT: 489,252 Republicans voted in the 2008 presidential primary. Less than 260,000 did so today.
6:18 PM PT:
Let's say what many folks may be thinking who have access to exit polls: Santorum support understated all over the place— @chucktodd via Twitter for BlackBerry®
6:20 PM PT (Jed Lewison): To recap: Romney has won Vermont, Massachusetts, and Virginia—where neither Santorum nor Gingrich were allowed on the ballot. Santorum won Oklohama and Tennessee. Gingrich won Georgia. Ohio is still close to call, and we've got Alaska, North Dakota, and Idaho left to go. If Santorum hangs on in Ohio, it could be a very rough night for Romney.
6:22 PM PT (Jed Lewison): I never thought I'd say this, but listening to Santorum is a relief after the grueling experience that Newt put us through.
6:22 PM PT (David Nir): OH-09 update: With 100% of Erie in, 27% of Lorain, 11% of Cuyahoga, 4% of Lucas (and nothing from Ottawa), it's Kaptur 49 vs. Kucinich 47 among Dems, and Kraus (a Some Dude) 54 vs. Joe the Plumber 46 for the GOP.
6:23 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Santorum really milking the David vs Goliath thing, but there's some truth to it. He's had less financial support than either Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich, yet he's kept himself on the map.
6:27 PM PT (David Nir): According to the AP, Jean Schmidt has legged out to a 50-41 lead in the OH-02 (R) primary, with 9% reporting.
6:27 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Rick Santorum decrying the "fact" that every single American will get health care from the government under Obamacare. But that's not true. And has he never heard of Medicare? Or Social Security? Every single American who reaches the retirement age qualifies for those programs. And I'm sure Rick Santorum says he'll defend them. Which makes him a socialist.
6:28 PM PT (Jed Lewison):
Santorum: I want to thank Mitt Romney, probably the one guy in the world I could beat like this, I know, it's crazy, I'm like WTF sometimes.— @pourmecoffee via TweetDeck