Urbandale Republicans Picked a Nominee. Will They Have Picked a Winner?

Looks like Urbandale Republican caucus-goers know how to pick a nominee.

In the January caucuses, Mitt Romney took Urbandale. Today, with rival Rick Santorum suspending his presidential campaign, Romney is the heir apparent to the Republican nomination in August.

If you'll recall, Romney . In reality, the double-digit vote divide between Romney and Rick Santorum, who was declared winner, was so narrow and there was enough confusion in the count that state GOP officials initially refused to declare a winner and said we may never truly know who won.

In Urbandale, 2,580 people voted in Republican caucuses and Romney gathered 837 of those votes. However, while Paul was the second choice for Polk County, Santorum came in second in Urbandale with 612 votes to Paul's 422 votes.

That didn't change when Santorum was found to have won, two weeks later. Romney still held Urbandale.

Urbandale didn't have any particular connection to Romney. Santorum, like Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain, opened their Iowa campaign offices in Urbandale.

Romney didn't spend much time campaigning in Iowa period. He did make one campaign appearance at in Urbandale in January that you can watch on YouTube.