Santorum optimistic he won Iowa in final vote tally

Rick Santorum was optimistic on Tuesday that the final recount of votes in the Iowa caucus might put him in first place.

“It’d be awesome to find out now that I won that state. What better time to get a little bump in winning Iowa?” Santorum said on Fox News.

It was originally reported that Mitt Romney won the Iowa caucuses by just 8 votes, with Santorum in second place. Romney then swept to first place in New Hampshire’s primary the following week.

The Iowa Republican party is still certifying the final results of the tight vote.

Santorum referred to the possibility he actually won the state at campaign events in South Carolina on Tuesday.

Santorum is fighting for third place in recent South Carolina polling and placed fourth in New Hampshire’s primary vote. Romney continues to poll well in front in South Carolina and nationally, but Santorum dismissed as “silly” the idea that the former Massachusetts governor already has the Republican nomination locked up.

“This nomination is not going to be decided in two or three states, it’s going to be decided over a long primary process,” he said. “We’re optimistic that we can pull out a win here and stop this narrative that this is inevitable.”

Counties have until close of business on Wednesday to turn in their officially verified vote count to Iowa’s Republican Party headquarters, according to The Des Moines Register. Republican party leaders indicated to the newspaper that a few differences in vote counting have already been noted, but said final results would not be released until the certification is complete, likely the end of the week.

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