Rick Santorum stopped at a church on Olympia’s west side to talk to gay marriage opponents and plans to visit with Republican leaders at the Capitol.

State Sen. Dan Swecker just left the church and said the meeting hosted perhaps 125 people from around the state — mostly pastors. The meeting had been planned before Santorum announced he was coming and was held to talk about the referendum that is planned now that Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed the same sex marriage law, Swecker said.

For anyone disappointed by the loss in the Legislature, Swecker said Santorum told the crowd things never look as good or bad as they seem — and joked about how his “ups and downs in the campaign” prove that.

The GOP candidate and former Pennsylvania senator rocketed from the bottom of the polls to win Iowa and become seemingly the main challenger to frontrunner Mitt Romney.

“He was very encouraging,” Swecker said. “I think his goal basically is to get his face out” among Republicans and conservative Christians.

Given the leanings of many expected to vote in Washington’s March 3 GOP caucuses, “He’s probably got a pretty good chance of picking up some votes,” Swecker said.