(The Birmingham News, Bernard Troncale/AP Photo)

Rick Santorum claimed a sweeping victory in Kansas on Saturday, winning the state's caucus with 51.2 percent of the vote. Mitt Romney placed second in the caucus with 20.9 percent, Gingrich and Paul came in third and fourth place with 14.4 percent and 12.6 percent respectively.

"We are very excited to see the Santorum surge sweeping through the Jayhawk State," Santorum Communications Director Hogan Gidley wrote in a statement. "This is a great win for the campaign and further evidence that conservatives and tea party loyalists are uniting behind Rick as the true, consistent conservative in this race."

Santorum was the favorite to win in Kansas; though there were was no formal polling, the state's large socially conservative population was seen as a strong advantage for Santorum. The former Pennsylvania senator was also one of only two GOP candidates to visit Kansas ahead of its primary- Ron Paul was the other candidate.

Kansas Republican Party Chair Amanda Adkins issued a statement on Saturday evening congratulating Santorum on his victory.

"Today 30,000 Kansas Republicans showed their enthusiasm and support for a new leader in the White House. Congratulations to Rick Santorum for his significant victory in our state" Adkins wrote.

The party estimates that 33 out of the total 40 delegates will be awarded to Santorum. The remaining 7 delegates will go to Mitt Romney.

Romney took three smaller, yet equally decisive victories on Saturday in the American territories of Guam, the Northern Marianas, and the Virgin Islands. He won Guam where he won Guam with 84 percent and the Northern Marianas 87 percent of the vote winning all nine of the delegates offered in both of those location, bringing Romney's total to 25 delegates.

Romney was also declared the winner in the Virgin Islands by the Virgin Island Republican party. The party released an unofficial delegate count which gave Romney seven delegates, Paul one delegate and left one delegate uncommitted. The party said that these numbers are subject to challenges in the coming days and therefore might change, though that is unlikely.