Voters in three states cast their ballots in the Republican primary on Tuesday. And in all three races Rick Santorum was victorious.
 

In the Minnesota caucus, Santorum won with 44.8 percent of the vote. Ron Paul finished second with 27.2 percent, followed by Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.
 

In Colorado, Santorum won with 40.8 percent of the vote. Romney was a close second with 34.9 percent, followed by Gingrich and Paul.
 

By winning those caucuses, Santorum picked up crucial delegates as he battles Romney for the Republican nomination.
 

But the Missouri primary was non-binding. So even though Santorum won with a commanding 55.2 percent of the vote, he wins no delegates. Missouri will award its delegates when the state caucuses in March.
 

Santorum's victories were his first since narrowly winning the Iowa caucus in January.
 

After the results from Tuesday's elections were announced, Santorum met with supporters in St. Charles, Missouri.
 

"I don’t stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney," Santorum said. "I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama."
 

Going into Tuesday's elections, Romney had won back-to-back elections in Florida and Nevada. He was the first candidate in 2012 to win two elections in a row, and he was looking to put the race further out of the reach of his competitors.
 

Santorum's victories in Colorado and Minnesota took some of the wind out of Romney's sails.
 

"We definitely are the campaign with the momentum, the enthusiasm on the ground," Santorum told CNN.
 

Santorum has two weeks until the next primaries to use his victories to raise more money and attract new supporters. Arizona and Michigan will head to the polls on February 28.
 

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