By KASIE HUNT Associated Press AP

1:43 p.m. EDT, March 21, 2012
WASHINGTON —
Polls show Romney has the advantage heading toward Maryland’s April 3 primary. But the South, where Louisiana votes Saturday, has proven less hospitable to Romney.

Santorum, who hopes to rebound in Louisiana, sounded like anything but a defeated contender Tuesday night as he spoke to supporters in Gettysburg, Pa. He said he had outpolled Romney in downstate Illinois and the areas “that conservatives and Republicans populate.”

“We’re very happy about that and we’re happy about the delegates we’re going to get, too,” he said before invoking Illinois-born Republican icon Ronald Reagan, the actor turned president. “Saddle up, like Reagan did in the cowboy movies.”

Gingrich issued only a written statement Tuesday. Texas Rep. Ron Paul has yet to win a state.

Romney triumphed in Illinois after benefiting from a crushing 7-1 advantage in the television advertising wars, and as his chief rival struggled to overcome self-imposed political wounds in the marathon race to pick an opponent to Obama.

Most recently, Santorum backpedaled after saying Monday that the economy wasn’t the main issue of the campaign. “Occasionally you say some things where you wish you had a do-over,” he said later.

Romney has 563 delegates in the overall count maintained by The Associated Press, out of 1,144 needed to win the nomination. Santorum has 263 delegates, Gingrich 135 and Paul 50.

After the Louisiana primary, a 10-day break follows before Washington, D.C., Maryland and Wisconsin hold primaries on April 3.

Santorum is not on the ballot in the nation’s capital. Private polling shows Romney with the edge in Maryland, and the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future is spending more than $450,000 on ads in the state.

Wisconsin shapes up as the next big test between Romney and Santorum. Republican politics there have been roiled recently by a controversy involving a recall battle against the governor and some GOP state senators who supported legislation that was bitterly opposed by labor unions.

Already, Restore Our Future has put down more than $2 million in television advertising across Wisconsin. Santorum has spent about $50,000 to answer.