The Texas underdog looking to derail Mitt Romney’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination turned to his home state on Tuesday attempting to find new life for his campaign.

With 155 delegates to the Republican convention in Tampa, Texas ranks as the second largest prize on the electoral map -- luring Ron Paul, who has represented parts of the Lone Star State in Congress for decades, back home this week, even though it doesn't hold its primary until May 29.

Despite his decades on the Texas political stage, Paul did not exactly shine in the 2008 Republican primary when he took less than 5 percent -- far behind the likes of John McCain and Mike Huckabee. The maverick Texas congressman is looking to turn things around in Texas this week as he is running a new commercial in the Lone Star State and is making campaign stops there.

The ad attempts to contrast Paul with his three main rivals for the Republican nomination -- Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.

Besides hitting the airwaves, Paul is looking to expand his ground game in Texas. He is scheduled to hold campaign rallies at Texas A&M in College Station on Tuesday, in Fort Worth on Wednesday and San Antonio on Thursday.

But events overtook Paul's ad campaign.

With buzz remaining constant that he would soon end his bid for the Republican nomination, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum officially suspended his uphill battle against Romney.

With his daughter Bella in the hospital over the weekend, Santorum called a news conference to make the announcement, which had been widely anticipated since he took the weekend off from campaigning while his youngest daughter was hospitalized for treatment for a rare genetic disease.



Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or (850) 727-0859.