Romney wins Idaho caucuses

Mitt Romney was projected to win the Idaho caucuses Tuesday night, riding a wave of support from Mormon voters in the state to capture another Super Tuesday prize. 

Romney is expected to win a majority of the state's 23 delegates up for grabs Tuesday night. An additional nine delegates will be selected at a state convention in June.

With 77 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had nearly 69 percent of the vote in Idaho.

Despite awarding more delegates than Iowa, South Carolina or Nevada, campaigns largely shied away from Idaho in the furious scramble before Super Tuesday.

Ron Paul was the only candidate to establish a campaign headquarters in the state. His campaign even unearthed the five distant cousins of Romney's to campaign for the Texas congressman.

Paul was in a distant second place in early returns, collecting almost 17 percent of the vote.

Paul was ultimately unable to overcome strong turnout from Mormon voters in Idaho. According to a 2008 Pew Survey of the state, a plurality of those eligible to vote in the state — 23 percent — self-identify as Mormon, more than evangelical Protestants or Catholics.

Paul acknowledged as much during a radio interview Tuesday, telling Laura Ingraham that Mormon voters were rallying to Romney much in the way Catholic voters supported former President Kennedy or African-American voters supported President Obama.

"If Mitt wasn't in this race, I'd have about 70 percent of the vote," Paul said of his Idaho chances.

The other candidates did not completely ignore the state: Romney and Rick Santorum both visited Idaho earlier this year and Romney's son, Josh, spend two days campaigning there in late February.

There were no polls conducted of Idaho in the days before the primary election, so predictions of how the delegates will be allocated will prove difficult until the state party reports its final results.

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