Gingrich pulls ahead as South Carolina votes

GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich hopes to pull off a dramatic comeback in South Carolina today and trigger a major battle for the Republican nomination with Mitt Romney. The eleventh hour momentum is with the former speaker of the house Gingrich, according to opinion polls on the eve of voting. Public Policy Polling put Gingrich on 37 per cent, ahead of ‘frontrunner’ Romney on 28 per cent, as South Carolina went to the polls at 7am (ET) this morning. The sudden and unexpected withdrawal of Texas governor Rick Perry may be benefiting Gingrich in the conservative state with a considerable evangelical vote. Gingrich has soaked up media coverage this week after his outburst during a CNN debate which you can read about here.

Ahead of polling, a series of polls suggested that momentum was with Gingrich. Romney was originally declared the winner of the Iowa caucus, but a final count of votes put Rick Santorum ahead by 34 votes. That leaves Romney with just one state win, New Hampshire, under his belt going into South Carolina today:

PublicPolicyPolling@ppppolls

Our final South Carolina numbers: Gingrich 37, Romney 28, Santorum 16, Paul 14:http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/01/newt-expands-south-carolina-lead.html

about 11 hours ago Reply Retweet Favorite Profile

The winner of South Carolina’s primary has gone on to win the nomination since the primary was established in 1980:

Jamie Dupree@jamiedupree

PRIMARY DAY: Polls opened at 7am ET in South Carolina and close at 7pm ET tonight; 25 GOP delegates are at stake

about 2 hours ago Reply Retweet Favorite Profile

Despite pulling out, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Perry will appear on the ballot sheet and final tallies. TV host and comedian Stephen Colbert has held unconventional rallies urging support for Cain which you can read about here on Storyful:

The primaries in South Carolina are open and voters do not register by party:

SCPrimary@SCPrimary

Voting at Mt Horeb UMC in Lexington moved to different part of church because of youth basketball games. http://t.co/tIOwyr1B

about 2 hours ago Reply Retweet Favorite Profile

Heavy rains are forecast today, leading to concerns that voter turnout could be low:

Jan Crawford@cbsjancrawford

Gathering clouds as the sun rises here in South Carolina on a pivotal day in politics.http://t.co/hTWzqvD0

about 2 hours ago Reply Retweet Favorite Profile

On the eve of voting, consistent front-runner Romney drew large crowds to his final rallies:

From baseclearer3

GOP ‘outsider’ Ron Paul, who continues to draw large crowds of young people, spoke at the Grand Strand Airport in Myrtle Beach on the day before the SC Primary. In a thinly veiled reference to Gingrich, Paul said: “The turnouts have been great. I did read an email just a little while ago; it said another candidate was supposed to be giving a speech today, but it was cancelled because nobody turned up!”

From poopsy713

Gingrich’s show-stopper response on Thursday night, after being asked about controversial claims by an ex-wife, earned him a standing ovation only minutes after the debate started:

From tpmtver