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Pawlenty isn't convinced Romney will win Minnesota

The former Minnesota governor, who is Mitt Romney's campaign co-chair, said low turnout makes the caucuses difficult to predict.

February 2, 2012 at 12:00AM

Mitt Romney with his wife Ann and son Josh arrive at Freightmasters trucking in Eagan Wednesday for an afternoon event with former Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Son Josh at left looks his dad over after the former Mass. Gov. showed the results of an attempt to shower him with glitter. (Hotfot -/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

By Baird Helgeson

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Wednesday could not guarantee that GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney would win the Minnesota caucuses next week.

In a conference call hours before Romney's scheduled visit to Eagan, Pawlenty said the low turnout of the state's caucuses make predictions difficult.

"I think he will do well, but I certainly can't predict who will win," said Pawlenty, who became Romney's campaign co-chairman after dropping out of the presidential race after the Iowa caucuses.

The former Massachusetts governor is coming off a strong win in a bitterly contested Florida primary, clearly establishing himself as the front-runner. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul are also vying for the GOP nomination.

Pawlenty said Gingrich has a long history visiting the state and Paul's grassroots supporters could give him a much stronger finish than his last-place poll numbers indicate.

In 2008, Romney crushed Sen. John McCain in the Minnesota caucuses 41 percent to 22 percent. McCain went on to win the nomination.