Presidential candidate Rick Santorum picks up delegates with win in Louisiana

Saturday, March 24, 2012

photo Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks in this file photo.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Rick Santorum picked up at least eight convention delegates by winning the Republican presidential primary in Louisiana.

Santorum's haul was limited by Louisiana's rules for awarding delegates. The state has a total of 46 delegates to the party's national convention, but only 20 were at stake in the primary, and they were awarded in proportion to the statewide vote.

An additional 23 delegates will be selected at the Louisiana state GOP convention in June. The final three delegates are Louisiana's members of the Republican National Committee.

Mitt Romney leads the overall race for delegates with 563, followed by Santorum with 271, Newt Gingrich with 135 and Ron Paul with 50.

It takes 1,144 delegates to win the Republican nomination to take on President Barack Obama.