Mitt Romney takes decisive lead in Kentucky primary Tue May 22, 2012 8:51pm EDT (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful and presumptive nominee Mitt Romney took a commanding lead on Tuesday in early returns in the Kentucky primary, winning 67 percent of the vote with a majority of counties reporting, an official tally showed. Romney's next closest Republican rival was Ron Paul with 12 percent of the vote, while Rick Santorum got 9 percent of the vote, returns from the Kentucky State Board of Elections showed. Paul has stopped actively campaigning while Santorum has suspended his campaign and endorsed Romney. Romney has all but secured the Republican presidential nomination, winning 989 delegates - not including 45 delegates at stake in Kentucky - while his next closest rival Santorum had 259, according to Real Clear Politics. President Barack Obama, who is assured to be the Democratic Party's candidate, did not face an opponent in Kentucky. He pulled in 60 percent of the vote with a majority of counties reporting, while 40 percent of voters marked "uncommitted" on their ballots, election results showed. In West Virginia's Democratic primary on May 8 Obama was upstaged by federal prison inmate Keith Judd, who got nearly 43 percent of the vote while serving a 17-1/2-year sentence for making threats at the University of New Mexico.