Gingrich: Only I can go 'toe to toe' with Obama
Addressing supporters after the result came through, Gingrich said that it was "very humbling and very sobering to have so many people who deeply want their country to get back on the right track."
A gracious Gingrich did not attack any of his opponents, praising each of their life stories, but he did make further comments about the news media.
"I think it was something very fundamental that I wish the powers that be in the news media would take seriously: the American people feel that they have elites who have been trying for a half century to force us to quit being American and become some other kind of system," he said.
"People completely misunderstand what's going on. It's not that I am a good debater, it is that I articulate the deepest felt values of the American people."
Returns from 57 percent of South Carolina's precincts showed Gingrich gaining 40 percent of the vote, to 27 percent for Romney.
Rick Santorum had 18 percent and congressman Ron Paul 13.
The win in the first southern primary marks a dramatic turnaround from Gingrich's poor showing in the first two contests of the Republican presidential campaign.
It sets up the likelihood that the race, which Romney once seemed poised to wrap up quickly, could drag on for months.
"Our campaign has fought very hard here in South Carolina and in the coming weeks and months I'll keep fighting for every single vote," Romney told his supporters.
"I will compete in every single state. We're going to win this nomination and we're going to defeat President Obama in November."
Democrats generally see Romney as the toughest potential rival for Obama, so Saturday's results are likely to please them.
They also would not mind a tough, drawn-out primary battle that could weaken the eventual Republican nominee.
Vowing to go forward, Santorum cast his disappointing third-place finish in the South Carolina primary as a hiccup and pledged on Saturday to continue campaigning in
a race he called "wide open."
"I want to say to all those folks across America who are looking for that candidate - that candidate that can be that good stark contrast, someone who can contrast on all of the issues that are important for America today, the ones that are going to decide this election. The ones that have experience on national security, the consistency on the conservative principals that made this country great, I ask you it is a wide open race, join the fight," he said to supporters.
Meanwhile, Paul told his backers that momentum had been building and will continue.
"We have the message, we have the talent, we have the determination and we will win this battle for peace and prosperity," he said.
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