Will Santorum Surge to Win? Too Close to Call, Networks Say

Entrance polling shows the LGBT community might not dodge the Rick Santorum surge in polls on Tuesday as three contenders vie for victory in Iowa.

Networks say the race is "too close to call" with an expected three-way race to the finish emerging between Santorum, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.

Santorum had rode a wave of enthusiasm in recent polls that followed his sudden rise from single digits to a reported 15% in the most recent Des Moines Register poll, which is well regarded for its accuracy predicting how Republican caucuses will unfold. The poll was taken over four days from December 27 to 30, and during the first two days Santorum averaged 10% but doubled that number in the last two days of the survey.

NBC reports that its entrance polling found 31% of people who decided today went to Santorum.

While none of the candidates is a darling of the LGBT community, the possibility of Santorum winning anywhere in the country has the potential to rile up LGBT voters. Santorum has eagerly courted the socially conservative wing of his party, and he's left a long antigay record on the campaign trail.

While a third-place finish doesn't typically push a candidate to quit the presidential race, a first place finish would give Santorum a greater platform for his antigay views and perhaps leave some question about whether being antigay is once again a winning argument with the Republican base.

Santorum was among the first to sign antigay pledges from the Iowa Family Leader and the National Organization for Marriage, promising to seek a federal ban on same-sex marriage via an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In Santorum's most recent pronouncement, he said that if elected president, he would seek to invalidate the marriages of thousands of same-sex couples who had already wed.