County delegates give Santorum edge on state card

Whitman County Republicans Saturday elected a delegate slate which will carry a majority of Rick Santorum backers to the state convention which starts May 31 in Tacoma.

Seven of the nine elected delegates said they would back Santorum although some said they would be willing to switch to another GOP contender at the state session.

Whitman Republicans have been assigned a total of 12 delegates to the state event May 31 to June 2. The 12 from the county will be among 1,623 delegates at the state event under a system which assigns seats based on 2008 GOP returns for president, governor and secret...