On Monday, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum will make a day trip to Washington State, according to numerous sources, riding on a three-state sweep of the this Tuesday’s Republican primary and caucuses in Minnesota, Michigan and Colorado.

The presidential dark horse will hold his campaign event at the Washington Historical Museum (map it) between 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. in Tacoma, Wash. The event is free and open to the public, the first such appearance by any of the Republican presidential hopefuls.

Wins by Santorum this week nudged him past Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) and into a third-place spot in the race for the nomination, but Santorum still trails former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former U.S House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the projected tally of delegates to the Republican National Convention in August.

Santorum’s swing through Washington is an early play to campaign for Washington’s 43 delegates in the upcoming March 3 state caucuses and it can be no accident, then, that Monday is also the day that Washington State Gov. Christine Gregoire is scheduled to sign the Legislature’s same-sex marriage bill into law, and that Santorum—seen as the most socially conservative among presidential contenders—has scheduled meetings with value voter groups as well as party activists in the hours surrounding his campaign event to be held in Tacoma.

The fact that no clear frontrunner has emerged from the remaining field of four remaining presidential hopefuls returns Washington to a place of some relevance.

A strong showing by Santorum in Washington State next month could give him momentum heading into Super Tuesday (March 6), a potential psychological advantage with values voters on the fence in their support for Romney.

Although Romney appears to be in good position for the Feb. 28 primaries—polls show him in a strong lead in the winner-take-all state of Arizona (29 delegates) and grabbing a plurality of Michigan’s 42 delegates—by striking while the iron is hot among social conservatives in Washington, a surprise win here could vault him past Gingrich and into a second place spot.

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[photo credit: DonkeyHotey]