Romney's White House bid dealt double blow ahead of South Carolina primary

Washington, Jan 20(ANI): Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's bid for the 2012 White House race suffered a setback as his Iowa caucus win was taken away after the final counting of votes, and Texas Governor Rick Perry decided to endorse Romney's arch rival Newt Gingrich after stepping down from the race.

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum won the Iowa caucus edging past Romney by 34 votes. But state officials said neither of them could be declared the winner because ballots from eight precincts were missing, the Telegraph reports

The revised result will not alter the number of Iowa delegates either candidate receives in the national electoral college, but deals a severe blow to Romney as his win in a social conservative state was seen as evidence of the Republican party's Right Wing support.

The development comes in the wake of Gingrich receiving Perry's backing for the White House bid ahead of the South Carolina primary.

According to RealClearPolitics, support of 4.4 percent of South Carolina primary voters could help Gingrich surge ahead of Romney in the eleventh hour of the campaign.

Two recent polls indicated Gingrich has already overtaken Romney, with the latter coming under fire in a television show for allegedly stashing his 250 million dollar wealth in tax havens such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

Meanwhile, Romney's campaign team continued attacking Gingrich's character and his record as the party's leader in the House of Representatives in the 1990s.

Romney maintains an 18-point lead in polls in Florida, the state scheduled to vote after South Carolina on January 31. (ANI)