Santorum tops Romney in Brandon, Groveland townships

Election officials were pleased with voter turnout in both Brandon and Groveland townships for Tuesday’s primary election.
In Brandon Township, 2,209 votes were cast in the presidential primary, 19.25 percent of the 11,477 registered voters.
‘I think for a presidential primary election, that’s pretty good turnout,? said Karen McArthur, township elections coordinator. ‘It’s actually 200 more voters than we had four years ago.?
In Brandon, Rick Santorum received 802 votes, while Mitt Romney took 775. Ron Paul came in third with 275 votes and Newt Gingrich had 129 votes. In the Democratic primary, in which President Obama was unchallenged, 157 ballots were cast in Brandon, with 135 for Obama and 22 uncommitted.
Groveland Township Clerk Pam Mazich was ‘thrilled? to have nearly 22 percent voter turnout in Groveland’with 920 votes cast out of 4,206 registered voters. Santorum also received the most votes on the Republican ballot, with 353; Romney received 339; Paul had 77; and Gingrich received 69 votes. There were 76 ballots cast in the Democratic primary.