Final Iowa Results: Santorum Tops Romney, but We'll Never Know Who Won Rick Santorum collected more caucus votes in Iowa by the state party's final count, but we'll never know who really won. The Republican Party of Iowa announced Thursday morning that the final, certified count shows Santorum winning by 34 votes. But eight precincts" results were not available for certification, the party announced, telling the Des Moines Register that it will never be recovered. The current, incomplete count: 29,839 votes for Santorum and 29,805 for Mitt Romney. Since the Iowa Republican Party announced on caucus night that Romney had edged Santorum by a mere eight votes, it has been collecting certified results forms from Iowa's counties and precincts. Thursday's results are final. Santorum will forever hold a lead with incomplete returns. Before Thursday morning's announcement, the candidate and major media outlets had already declared Iowa an effective tie, and Iowa does not award delegates to any candidate. Any boost to Santorum will be emotional and psychological. Thursday's results could help him as he heads into the South Carolina primary this Saturday if they further legitimize him in the eyes of any on-the-fence South Carolina voters. But they are not likely to help him raise money: While Santorum raised a flood of cash after his strong Iowa showing, he's already missed out on any extra donations he would have attracted in the following days had the Iowa GOP announced him the winner in the early morning hours of Jan. 4.