Mitt Romney may have won the most votes Tuesday night, but the real winner in the Iowa caucuses—and on social media—was Rick Santorum.
Santorum’s Iowa Surprise (a term coined by the campaign in a Twitter hashtag), came after a week of growing support in polls and on social media. Though Mitt Romney ultimately beat the former Pennsylvania senator by a slim margin of eight votes, it was clear Santorum had the best night. He was even declaring victory on Twitter.
“Game on! Thanks to all of you, we pulled off our #iowasurprise! Keep us going to NH, SC & beyond,” the campaign wrote about an hour before the final tally was announced.
On Facebook late Tuesday, Santorum was still gaining the type of momentum that led to his surprise showing in Iowa. Just before the caucuses began at 7 p.m., Santorum had more than 44,600 “Likes” on his official campaign page; almost six hours later, he had gained more than 4,000 new Likes, a 9 percent increase in support on the social network.
Romney, on the other hand, had gained only about 1,000 new followers during the same period.
Yet even as Santorum was basking in the social media limelight, Romney was victorious where it counted: at the caucuses. He quickly went to Facebook and Twitter to thank caucusgoers: “Thank you, Iowa! What better place than the heartland of America to start the restoration of America’s heart and soul.”
Romney, too, had a small social media victory. Soon after the announcement of his Iowa win, “Mitt Romney” and “Iowa” were trending topics on Twitter.