ATLANTA — The campaign trail in Georgia is getting crowded.

With less than three weeks left until the state’s March 6 presidential primary, candidates in the topsy-turvy Republican race are turning their attention to Super Tuesday’s biggest prize.

Newt Gingrich will play up his roots when he returns to his old home state to campaign for two days, beginning with a rally in Peachtree City on Friday night.

Surging after a trio of wins in recent weeks, Rick Santorum will focus on his evangelical base, appearing Sunday night at a “God and Country” rally at First Redeemer Church in Cumming.

Mitt Romney headlined a rally in Atlanta last week, and a political action committee backing the former Massachusetts governor has purchased a modest amount of air time in the state to run an anti-Gingrich ad. And Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Thursday the candidate plans to spend “a lot of time campaigning in Georgia and Ohio ahead of Super Tuesday.”

With 76 delegates at stake — the most of the 10 Super Tuesday states — the three GOP candidates are eying Georgia closely.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who finished second in a Georgia Republican Party straw poll last summer, has not been seen in the state campaigning.

Gingrich clearly holds an edge. The former House speaker represented a suburban Atlanta district for two decades and was in the trenches building up the state Republican Party at a time when Democrats dominated Georgia politics.