Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has taken the lead in the GOP campaign, winning Florida solidly with a double-digit win over his closest competitor, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
As of press time Tuesday evening, Romney lead in the count at 46.4 percent of the vote, with 98 percent of precincts reporting. Former House speaker Gingrich gained 31.9 percent, while former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum came in third, with 13.4 percent.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul finished fourth, tallying 7 percent of the vote.
As the fourth most populous state in the country, Florida is considered a critical state in both primaries and presidential elections, providing 50 delegates in a winner-takes-all rule.
The Sunshine state is also a demographic mix across the political spectrum.
A confident Romney gave a rousing victory speech congratulating his rivals “on another hard-fought contest,” declaring that primaries were not meant to be easy, but were meant to prepare the presidential candidate.
Romney, however, moved quickly from commenting on his rivals to focusing on the bigger election come November.
He told supporters he had the experience to restore America to economic prosperity, saying he knew what it was like to build a business from scratch, to run a successful Olympics, and balance a budget.
“I stand ready to lead this party and our nation,” Romney said.
According to exit polling conducted by CNN, six out of ten voters in Florida said the economy was their issue of most concern, while a majority said they were voting for the candidate they believed could defeat Barack Obama.
