Newt Gingrich will defeat Mitt Romney to win today's South Carolina primary, according to ABC News projections based on exit poll data. Rick Santorum will place third and Ron Paul will be fourth in the race.
As the projections were announced, the crowd at Gingrich's headquarters erupted into cheers while the atmosphere at Romney's headquarters in Charleston was more muted, and the crowd sat nearly silent.
In his concession speech, Romney congratulated the former House speaker but not without some underhanded jabs.
"When my opponents attack success and free enterprise they are not only attacking me, they are attacking every person who dreams of a better person. He's attacking you. I will support you I will help you have a better future," Romney said, hinting at a new line of attack that the campaign is likely to adopt going into Florida.
While Gingrich was never mentioned after Romney's opening line, a good chunk of his speech referred to the former speaker.
"The Republican party doesn't demonize prosperity. We celebrate success in our party," he said. "And let me be clear, if Republican leaders want to join this president in demonizing success and disparaging conservative values, then they're not going to be fit to be our nominee."
The enthusiastic crowd chanted "We Need Mitt! We Need Mitt!" as he spoke.
Gingrich trailed Romney by double digits just days ago. But that changed quickly after Gingrich's fiery performance in Thursday's night debate. The former House speaker was able to turn his biggest liability -- accusations by his second wife, Marianne, that he wanted an "open marriage" -- into an asset, drawing two standing ovations for assailing the media for bringing up the allegations. PHOTO: Newt Gingrich, (l), and Mitt Romney are pictured January 21, 2012, on South Carolina presidential primary day, in Spartanburg, S.C. Matt Rourke/AP Photo Newt Gingrich, (l), and Mitt Romney are... View Full Size Mitt Romney Concedes South Carolina Primary Watch Video South Carolina Primary Crucial to Candidates Watch Video Who Can Upset the GOP Frontrunner, Mitt Romney? Watch Video
The debate performance, in which Romney struggled to answer questions about his tax returns, injected fresh momentum into a campaign that, up until earlier this week, was overshadowed by Romney. Nearly two-thirds of Republican voters today cited debate performance as at least a somewhat important factor in their vote today and they favored Gingrich over Romney by a vast 49-23 percent, per exit poll results.
The late surge worked in Gingrich's favor. More than half of South Carolina voters decided whom to support in the past few days, according to exit polls, more than in either Iowa or New Hampshire and a much larger number than in 2008. Those voters went overwhelmingly for Gingrich by 43-23 percent.
Gingrich's win today is a significant blow to Romney, who lost two races this week. Rick Santorum was declared the winner in Iowa after a voting error had handed that title to Romney.
Romney's front-runner status in South Carolina evaporated quickly as the former Massachusetts governor was hit hard on his reluctance to reveal his tax records. The controversy over Romney's experience at Bain & Co. also hurt him in the Palmetto State. Twenty-eight percent of voters saw it as a negative, a substantial number, especially when looking at the lower-income voters, among whom Romney got virtually no support.
Romney poured more money than any other candidate into South Carolina, outspending Gingrich $1.9 million to $640,000. The two candidates' super PACs spent roughly the same amount -- nearly $3 million each -- in the Palmetto state on ads and mailers. But Romney was unable to sustain his lead.
Romney, 64, has said he will release his tax records in April despite calls from his rivals to do so immediately. Gingrich, 68, released his Thursday. The former governor, however, revealed that he paid a 15-percent effective tax rate in 2010, which is considerably lower than other Americans with comparable wealth. The lower tax rate was, in part, because Romney makes much of his money through investments and speaking fees rather than employment.
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South Carolina is an important race in the Republican primaries. No candidate has ever won the GOP nomination for president without winning South Carolina since 1980, when it became home to the nation's first-in-the-South primary.
The evangelical vote was crucial in today's primary, significantly more so than in Iowa and New Hampshire. Six in ten GOP voters in South Carolina were evangelical Christians, a high number, compared with 57 percent in Iowa and 22 percent in New Hampshire, according to exit poll results. More than a third of the South Carolina Republican electorate also described themselves as "very" conservative and voted mostly for Gingrich.
As in Iowa and New Hampshire, the candidate attribute that voters were most concerned about was who could defeat President Obama in November, and even these voters favored Gingrich over Romney.
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