Naysayers who criticize the power of a single vote, stand aside.

Yesterday, Mitt Romney defeats Rick Santorum in one of the most disputed Iowa caucus elections in history, winning 30,015 votes to Santorum’s 30,007. Though Santorum’s recent surge in the polls gave him a chance to win Iowa’s caucus, many voters believe that Santorum will be unable to continue his success on a national level.

Iowa’s caucus was also a success for Rep. Ron Paul, who polled in at 21%, behind the 25% of Romney and Santorum. However, the success of these three candidates wasn’t shared by all the challengers. Rick Perry placed 5th with 10% of the vote. Perry returned to Texas after the caucus, saying he would “determine if there was a path forward” for his campaign. Michelle Bachman, and early straw poll winner, came in at only 5%.

New Gingrich, who held a decisive lead in the polls only a few weeks ago, gathered 13% of the vote after a slew of negative campaign ads from Romney sent his campaign spiraling down just as fast as it surged up. Gingrich twice referred to Romney as a “liar” on the CBS morning show, and criticized Romney’s use of campaign ads, while promising to run a positive campaign himself.

Jon Hunstman, who chose not to Campaign in Iowa, garnered 1% of the vote. Hunstman chose instead to focus on New Hampshire, which will be holding primaries on January 9th.