It is a morning of upheaval in the GOP presidential primary race.
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According to the New York Times, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is poised to drop out:
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is poised to end his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, according to two Republicans close to Mr. Perry, a decision that comes two days before the South Carolina primary.
Mr. Perry will not participate in the debate here on Thursday evening, an aide said, and will make the announcement to supporters and contributors in South Carolina at an 11 a.m. press conference. He had been aggressively campaigning across the state, hoping that the first Southern primary would revive his candidacy.
It was the second time that Mr. Perry had signaled that he would leave the race. After a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses two weeks ago, Mr. Perry said that he was returning to Texas to reassess his campaign, but he decided to press ahead in South Carolina.
And in news from Iowa, a recount of votes shows a win for Rick Santorum, not Mitt Romney as previously counted:
Mitt Romney’s eight-vote victory in the Iowa caucuses will be rescinded on Thursday, following a two-week review by the state’s Republican Party that found that Rick Santorum actually finished 34 votes ahead of Mr. Romney, two party officials confirmed.
Matt Strawn, chairman of Iowa’s Republican Party, is set to announce at 9:15 a.m. Eastern time that an actual winner cannot be determined in the caucuses because results from eight of 1,774 precincts could not be located for certification. But of the votes that could be reviewed by the party, the officials said, Mr. Santorum finished narrowly ahead of Mr. Romney.
Mr. Santorum moved quickly on Thursday to declare victory and dismissed the suggestion that a clear-cut winner could not be determined. He will argue to voters in South Carolina, aides said, that the result shows that he is the best-equipped candidate to emerge as a conservative alternative to Mr. Romney.
For more details on this developing story, click here.
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