Newt Gingrich was projected the winner of the Georgia primary on Super Tuesday by CNN.
The former House Speaker was favored to win the race in his home state going into the contest. The AP reports:
Newt Gingrich notched a home-field primary win in Georgia, and Mitt Romney moved ahead in Virginia and Vermont as Republican presidential rivals battled coast to coast in a 10-state Super Tuesday showdown.
More than 400 delegates were at stake on the busiest day by far of the race to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama in the fall.
Gingrich's victory was his first since he captured the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21, and he said it would propel him on yet another comeback in a race where he has faded badly over the past six weeks.
Rick Santorum sought to sustain his recent resurgence, and Ron Paul campaigned for his first victory of the year on a day hosting seven primaries and three caucuses.
An exit poll of voters in the Georgia Republican presidential primary shows the victory there by Newt Gingrich, who represented the state in Congress for two decades, was propelled by people saying the former speaker's ties to the state were important.
Gingrich was winning around three-fourths of the votes of Georgia Republicans saying his relationship to the state affected their vote, according to early results from the survey.
Around 6 in 10 said that mattered little to them, and those voters were divided roughly evenly among Gingrich, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
Click here for HuffPost's live blog coverage of Super Tuesday.