Santorum vows to stay in race through Florida

Dismissing pressure to bow out of the presidential race, Rick Santorum unequivocally promised Thursday to stay in the race for at least the next two contests. The former Pennsylvania senator said Thursday afternoon he will "absolutely" stay in the race through Florida's January 31 primary. Rival Rick Perry, the Texas governor, dropped out Thursday, telling reporters he did not see a viable path to the Republican nomination.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are in a dead heat for the lead in South Carolina, which holds its primary Saturday. Santorum is running fourth of four candidates there behind Texas Rep. Ron Paul, according to the American Research Group (ARG) poll. The poll was conducted before Perry's withdrawal.

Santorum, who essentially tied Romney in the January 3 Iowa caucuses, is hoping to get a boost after the official votes there showed he had 34 more votes than Romney after an initial count said he had 8 votes fewer than Romney. The state party said some ballots were lost and it could not determine an official winner.

Santorum is investing in Florida, the next state to vote after South Carolina. In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, he said he is buying television advertising in one of the most expensive media markets in the country.

"We're starting to buy today," Santorum said without elaborating on how much money he would be spending in the Sunshine state.

Santorum is courting social conservatives, and influential evangelical leader James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, backed Santorum Thursday. He was endorsed by a large coalition of conservative leaders earlier this week.