Greene to vote for Santorum

Republican congressional candidate Kellie Greene says she'll shout her support for former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum "from the rooftops."

Greene, a conservative Republican from Sackets Harbor, wrote on her Facebook page that "Rick Santorum is still on the NY Ballot so if he is your choice, you can send a big message to the powers that be that you stand for something other than the establishment pick!!!!" (She included the exclamation points, not me.) Greene is among two Republicans running for New York's new 21st Congressional District. Watertown businessman Matt Doheny is the other.

After reading the post on her Facebook page, I dropped Greene a line to see if that meant she was voting for Santorum, who suspended his campaign earlier this month, leaving former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney the presumptive Republican choice.

Here's what Greene, who hadn't cast her vote yet, said:

"I will vote for Santorum," she said. "First of all, I've been a Santorum supporter for quite a while. I'm more closely aligned to him out of all of the candidates; we both ran with low campaign funds and a grassroots effort, and values-wise, I'm very much in line with everything Santorum stands for. We're both staunch Christian conservatives, and for me it’s a no-brainer, and has been for a long time. He's still on the ballot, and it’s our right and opportunity to voice our opinions; I’m not just going to vote for the guy who is going to win, but for who I believe would be best, and I believe you don’t just vote for who you think is the presumptive nominee.

"I'm excited," Greene added. "I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want to share who they're voting for. If you’re excited, scream it from the rooftops. I strongly support Santorum: period, end of story. Maybe if he has a strong turnout he’d consider getting back in, although it’s a long shot. But it’s not a foregone conclusion; New York isn’t a winner take all state, the other candidates could still pull in delegates."