After months of campaigning and debating, Mitt Romney won the Iowa Republican Caucus, the first stop of many to narrow down and select the Republican presidential nominee.

As the final precinct reported early Wednesday, Romney won the caucus with just eight more votes than Rick Santorum. Romney gained 24.6 percent of the vote.

Following closely behind the two leaders, Ron Paul grabbed more than 21 percent of the vote in Iowa.

The finish for Santorum left political pundits buzzing as Santorum has been relatively quiet among leading Republican candidates. 

While Romney has maintained fairly consistent poll numbers through the months of campaigning, other candidates have fluctuated in the polls with a different Republican taking center stage every couple months. 

Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and businessman Herman Cain all took turns in the national spotlight before losing prominence with Newt Gingrich most recently gaining attention.

Bachmann, despite receiving about 5 percent of the vote, optimistically addressed supporters Tuesday night.

“There will be another occupant in the White House. Who knows, maybe even another Michele in the White House?”

In the past Bachmann and her campaign have pointed to Iowa as a stronghold for her team.

Newt Gingrich came in fourth with 13 percent and Perry behind him with about 10.

In the 2008 election, about 119,000 Iowans came out to vote. According to numbers reported early Wednesday morning, the turnout this year surpassed 2008 with more than 120,000 votes cast in Iowa.

The next stop for the candidates will be the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 10.