Tonight’s big shocker:  Romney appears to be on track to come in a lowly third place in both Alabama and Mississippi.

Also awaiting results on local elections.

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ELECTION LIVEBLOG  Hit F5 or refresh for updated returns.  

7:49 p.m.  Alabama called for Santorum (35%).  Newt in second with 30%, Mitt lagging behind at 28.

7:55 p.m.  With 96% reporting, Santorum is also slightly ahead of Newt (33-31) in Mississippi and the projected winner.  If this result holds, Newt’s campaign as a candidate who claimed to have a regional appeal is effectively over.

7:57 p.m.  The AP just called Mississippi for Rick Santorum.  Seems like it may be “Game Over” for Newt.

8:12 p.m.  Checking the exit polls.

• These are some of Ron Paul’s worst performances to date – 4.4% in Mississippi and 5% in Alabama.  The r3v0lut10n no longer appears to be imminent.  Indeed, 74% of GOP voters said they would actually be dissatisfied if Paul won the nomination.
• If there’s a “War on Women”, it’s not showing up in the exit polls, which show that more women than men voted in the Mississippi primary.
• Young voters (18-29) in Mississippi overwhelmingly went for Rick Santorum, giving him 45% of their share of the vote.
• Romney again won voters with incomes over $100,000.
• Newt Gingrich won voters that “strongly support” the Tea Party in Mississippi.
• A staggering 80% of Mississippi GOP primary voters describe themselves as born-again Christians, which helped put Rick Santorum over the top.
• Gingrich won voters who said government spending and candidate experience were their top priorities.
• Mitt Romney was overwhelmingly seen as the most electable candidate.
• A near-unanimous 86% of primary voters described themselves as dissatisfied or angry with how government runs.
• Santorum won voters that decided who to support within the last few weeks as opposed to earlier during primary season.
• The only age category Mitt Romney won in Alabama was voters over 65.

8:34 p.m.  Turning now to local election coverage.  The Tempe mayoral election is where the action is right now.  With 80% reporting, Republican Michael Monti currently has a 16 vote lead over councilman Mark Mitchell.  WFP previously covered lax ID requirements in early voting at ASU, and in a race this close it matters.  This election is only the primary, as there is a third candidate pulling 21% of the vote.  The general election runoff between Monti and Mitchell will be May 15.

8:38 p.m.  The Tempe city council candidates mostly have around 17%, other than a solid lead for Corey Woods.  Following him:  Joel Navarro, Dick Foreman, Kolby Granville, and Angie Taylor Thornton.

8:54 p.m.  Delegate math for the Presidential primary while awaiting further local results.  Alabama has 50 delegates, all of which are tied to the primary election results but 3 unpledged RNC delegates.  No word on what the exact breakdown there will be.  Mississippi has a similar system – 37 awarded delegates, 3 unpledged.  Right now CNN shows Santorum receiving no clear advantage from his win:  he gets 13 delegates, while the losers, Newt and Romney, still get 12 each.  Ron Paul of course gets zero.

9:13 p.m.  Tempe mayoral primary went to GOP candidate Michael Monti by a 3-vote margin.

I think I’m going to just end this here by saying:  EVERY.  VOTE.  COUNTS.  Even the ones that shouldn’t.

Good night.