South Carolina Primary: Newt Gingrich defeats Mitt Romney.

RTE News - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich beat frontrunner Mitt Romney in South Carolina in a victory that indicates the party's battle to pick a challenger to President Barack Obama may last months, not weeks.

Mr Gingrich's triumph in the conservative southern state injects unexpected volatility into a Republican nominating race that until this week appeared to be a coronation for Mr Romney.

Instead, voters in South Carolina rejected Mr Romney's pitch that he is the best bet to fix a broken US economy and defeat Mr Obama in the election on 6 November.

Three different candidates - Mr Gingrich, Mr Romney and former US senator Rick Santorum - have won the first three contests in the state-by-state battle for the Republican presidential nomination to face Mr Obama.

Mr Gingrich received 40% of the vote, followed by Mr Romney with 28%.

Mr Santorum was in third with 17% and US congressman Ron Paul was in fourth with 13%.

The next contest is the Florida primary on 31 January.

Mr Gingrich contrasted his sometimes-chaotic management style with Mr Romney's buttoned-down approach, arguing that his campaign was powered by ideas rather than logistics.

Mr Romney is one of the wealthiest candidates ever to run for president and his campaign is well financed.

"We don't have the kind of money that at least one of the candidates have. But we do have ideas and we do have people," Mr Gingrich told supporters.

Mr Romney acknowledged that there will be a long primary season.

He said he would continue to run on his business record and paint Mr Gingrich as a creature of Washington in the weeks ahead.

"I don't shrink from competition, I embrace it," he told supporters. "I believe competition makes us all better. I know it's making our campaign stronger."

The winner of South Carolina's Republican presidential primary has gone on to win the party's nomination in every presidential election since 1980.