SHREVEPORT, Louisiana (AP) — Rick Santorum is looking to Louisiana for a much-needed rebound in his race against front-runner Mitt Romney as Republicans go to the polls Saturday in the southern state’s presidential primary .

The former Pennsylvania senator is expected to do well in the contest, just a handful of days after a decisive loss to Romney in the midwestern industrial state of Illinois on Tuesday.

A win by Santorum would serve as a reminder that Romney still struggles among the Republican party’s conservative faithful, especially in the South. Santorum beat Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, in primaries in Alabama and Mississippi earlier this month.

But regardless of Saturday’s outcome, Romney will still have collected far more delegates than all his opponents, creating a juggernaut that looks increasingly unstoppable as the party picks its nominee to face President Barack Obama in the November election.

Increasingly, powerful members of the Republican establishment have been coming forward to back Romney in his bid for the White House and trying to put an end to a longer-than-expected primary race that has left the candidates and even the entire Republican party badly bruised.

After rolling to a decisive victory in the heartland state of Illinois on Tuesday, Romney quickly won the surprise endorsement of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush. There were also signs that major Republican campaign contributors are shifting more money in his direction.

“I need your vote, and I want the vote of the people of Louisiana so we can consolidate our lead,” Romney said Friday while campaigning Friday in Shreveport. He told supporters his campaign wants to focus on “raising the money and building the team to defeat someone that needs to be out of office in 2012 and that’s Barack Obama.”

Republicans were voting as Obama began a trip overseas and the country was focused on the killing of an unarmed black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. Obama made a personal appeal to Martin’s family on Friday, and the Republican candidates all said an investigation into his death was an appropriate course to take.

Turnout appeared to be very light at a middle school in Metairie, Louisiana, where roughly three dozen voters had cast ballots Saturday in the first four hours polls were open.

Marianne Gabb, 54, was one of them. The administrative assistant for a property management company said she voted for Santorum, the father of seven, in part because he is a family man. “It just shows commitment, shows he can stay the course,” she said.

Martha Guthrie, a 75-year-old artist, voted for Romney and expressed reservations about Santorum’s religious rhetoric.

“I just don’t want somebody so far to the right that they are going to fall off the edge of the table. I think that is where Santorum is,” she said.

Santorum tried to keep the pressure on Romney ahead of the Louisiana contest, arguing that he is the only Republican candidate who can offer voters a stark contrast with Obama. He campaigned in his home state of Pennsylvania on Saturday.

But Santorum spent much of Friday on the defensive, explaining comments he made earlier in the week and insisting he would support the eventual Republican nominee. Still, Santorum says there are similarities between Romney and Obama that make them indistinguishable on some issues. He caused an intraparty uproar earlier in the week after suggesting he’d prefer a second term for Obama over a Romney presidency.

“Over my dead body would I vote for Barack Obama,” Santorum said as he walked back his original comments.

The situation underscored Santorum’s challenges and continued missteps that are complicating a candidacy already struggling to overcome major financial and organizational deficiencies. Before losing this week’s Illinois primary, Santorum hurt himself by declaring that neither the economy nor the U.S. unemployment rate was his top concern.

Romney heads into Louisiana with a commanding delegate lead in the race to 1,144, the number needed to clinch the Republican nomination at the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida in late August.

Also campaigning in Louisiana was former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has fallen back in polls and has lost other Southern primaries to Santorum.

There are 20 delegates at stake in Louisiana’s primary. They are awarded proportionally to the candidates who receive more than 25 percent of the vote. So a close race would yield just a handful for any of the men in the contest. An additional 23 delegates will be selected at the party’s Louisiana state convention in June and three others go to the state’s Republican National Committee members.

Romney has earned 563 delegates so far, compared to 263 for Santorum, 135 for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and 50 for Texas Rep. Ron Paul, according to an Associated Press tally.

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Associated Press writers Kasie Hunt in Shreveport, Louisiana, Cain Burdeau, in Pineville, Louisiana, Marc Levy in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and Michael Kunzelman in Metairie, Louisiana, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.