Neal wrote, “In order for us to win the nomination in Tampa in August, we must deny Romney delegates to that convention. If ... Romney receives 1,144 delegates before the national convention, it is all over for our campaign. That is the reason why the Senator himself directed us to coalition with the Ron Paul delegates to deny Romney any state delegates.”

Neal confirmed the message in a phone interview Friday, and acknowledged that the effort has split Santorum’s supporters here.

The showdown should be evident this weekend when nine counties — including Snohomish and Clark — hold conventions to elect delegates to the state GOP convention, where the national delegates will be picked in June.

Despite Mitt Romney winning Washington state's straw poll at the precinct caucuses in early March, the fight for the state's 43 delegates is still brewing.

The Rick Santorum and Ron Paul camps are teaming up to deny Romney delegates at the state convention, seemingly channeling those delegates to Santorum's turf, The Seattle Times reported Saturday.

"And the senator didn't mince words," Neal wrote. "In order for us to win the nomination in Tampa in August, we must deny Romney delegates to that convention. If ... Romney receives 1,144 delegates before the national convention, it is all over for our campaign. That is the reason why the senator himself directed us to coalition with the Ron Paul delegates to deny Romney any state delegates."

King County Republican Party Chairman Lori Sotelo called the coordination between Santorum and Paul supporters a "weird alliance" given the libertarian views of Paul, which are often at odds with Santorum.

A spokeswoman for the Paul campaign, though, said in an email they are "fully aboard" with the effort.

State Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur said he's growing concerned about scheming leading to a disruptive fight at the state convention.