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| Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa |
The result cemented Romney's status as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to take on President Barack Obama in November, but failed to dispel lingering doubts about the extent of his popularity.
In one of the closest finishes in presidential campaign history, Romney trailed Santorum by four votes with one precinct left to report.
But after an agonizing delay, the final votes turned things around and gave Romney a razor-thin 30,015 to 30,007 victory.
"Congratulations to governor Mitt Romney, winner of the 2012 Iowa caucuses. Congratulations to senator Santorum for a very close second place finish, an excellent race here," Iowa Republican Party chairman Matt Strawn said.
The result capped a remarkable performance by Santorum, written off a few weeks ago and now suddenly propelled into the top tier of candidates seeking the Republican crown to challenge Obama on November 6.
"Game on," Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, told cheering supporters after his exhaustive months-long, on-the-ground campaign paid off. "You have taken the first step in taking back this country."
The devout Catholic, who opposes abortion and contraception and has a hawkish foreign policy, took a shot at Romney's more centrist views, saying "what wins in America are bold ideas, sharp contrasts."
Romney, a wealthy former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist, said he and Santorum each had "a great victory" and congratulated Representative Ron Paul on his third-place finish -- then trained his guns on Obama.
"This has been a failed presidency," Romney said late Tuesday, in a variation of the stump speech he used in Iowa, calling Obama "in over his head" and vowing "I will go to work to get America back to work."
Romney and Santorum ended with 25 percent of the vote each, Paul stood at 21 percent, and former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich led the second tier of candidates with about 13 percent of the vote.
"This movement is going to continue and we're going to keep scoring just as we have tonight," said Paul, 76, a small-government champion who opposes foreign aid and military interventions overseas.
Gingrich, whose support in Iowa crumbled under a barrage of attack ads chiefly run by Romney's allies, signaled a new strategy as the battle for the party's nomination shifts to New Hampshire's January 10 primary.
While congratulating the two other contenders, Santorum and Paul, for strong showings, he criticized Romney for running a negative campaign and warned him to expect a new aggressive stance.
Iowans gathered Tuesday in school gymnasiums, libraries, church basements and other locales to speak out in front of neighbors on behalf of their chosen candidate and then vote by secret ballot.
The Iowa caucuses came against the backdrop of a sour, job-hungry US economy that weighs heavily on the embattled Obama's bid for a second term, four years after he promised "hope and change" in his historic 2008 victory.
The president, in a message beamed to Democrats holding their own caucuses across this mostly rural state, pleaded with them to stick with him, saying: "Change is never easy."
"We've been making steady progress as long as we can sustain it. And that's what this is going to be all about," he said.
Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina later said the "extremist Tea Party agenda won a clear victory" in the Republican contest and called on the president's supporters to step up their organizational efforts.
"Watching the circus on TV, it's tempting to think it's almost funny -- but this is not a joke. We've got to be ready," he said in a statement.
The quirky process in Iowa can lift or bury sagging campaigns or add luster to a shining presidential prospect.
Texas Governor Rick Perry, who came in a disappointing fifth, said he would return to his home state to reassess his candidacy, while Representative Michele Bachmann vowed to fight on despite her woeful sixth place finish.
Romney is left hoping that a romp in New Hampshire and another success in South Carolina could see him lock up the nomination.
But the favorite could face a stiff challenge as many Republicans still question his conservative credentials, and the anti-Romney vote could coalesce around a single alternative if some candidates drop out of the race.
Paul's unorthodox libertarian views have earned him a devout following, but he is seen as uncompetitive in other states, while Santorum, 53, faces an uphill fight to match Romney's massive national organization.
Gingrich will be hoping to turn things around in New Hampshire, where former US envoy to China Jon Huntsman also lies in wait after skipping Iowa.
