Romney Takes Florida With Resounding Win

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.
Romney Takes Florida With Resounding Win
Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich addresses supporters with his wife Callista Gingrich (R) at election night headquarters Jan. 31 in Orlando, Fla., after coming in second behind rival Mitt Romney in Florida’s Republican presidential primary. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)
1/31/2012
Updated:
2/2/2012
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Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney

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.

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Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich

The win will boost Romney’s campaign as the candidates head to Nevada and Maine for caucuses Feb. 4, and then on to Colorado and Mississippi caucuses, plus the Missouri primary Feb 7.

A feisty Gingrich stared down his defeat, vowing to continue as the conservative against the establishment, and laid out his blueprint for a Gingrich administration.

Dismissing rival candidates Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, Gingrich told supporters, “It is now clear that this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader Newt Gingrich and the Massachusetts moderate.”

Gingrich said he wanted to “design a people’s campaign,” not a Republican, establishment party, or Wall Street campaign, and that he was in it for the long run.

“We are going to contest every place and we are going to win and we will win Tampa as the nominee in August,” he said.

While Gingrich’s speech was upbeat, the next round of polling may weigh heavily on the former House Speaker. Romney is expected to do well in Nevada: It has a large Republican Mormon population, and the former governor won Nevada solidly in 2008.

Gingrich, too, has gained ground on the strength of his debates, but the next nationally televised debate is not until Feb. 28 in Arizona. To date, Romney has not committed to attend, according to news reports.

This will leave Gingrich reliant on campaign funds and Super PAC spending and influence.

According to the Washington Post, Gingrich raised $10 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 and raised another $5 million over January, but that will not match Romney’s financial clout. Romney reportedly raised $24 million in the fourth quarter and had $19 million at the end of the year.

He also spent over $13 million in advertising in Florida to Newt Gingrich’s roughly $2 million, according to CNN.

Focus on Caucuses

Rick Santorum and Ron Paul did not contest Florida, the winner-takes-all ruling a deterrent for both.

Santorum appeared in Missouri and Minnesota on Monday, and campaigned in Nevada and Colorado during Florida’s Tuesday primary.

Describing himself as the “one electable conservative,” Santorum has been particularly campaigning against Gingrich, and will have his sights on the caucuses, having won the Iowa caucus outright in January. With reports surfacing that he had raised more than $4 million in January and has more than $1 million in the bank, Santorum vowed to continue in the GOP race.

“It will depend on resources, but fundraising continues to be strong,” Santorum told CNN, noting that early polls had him head-to-head with Romney in Missouri.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul also didn’t campaign in Florida Tuesday, appearing on talk radio in Minnesota and attending a Town Hall meeting in Denver, Colo., on Monday.

Following South Carolina, Paul had declared that he would focus on the caucus states with the aim of not so much winning the presidential nomination, but gaining delegates, and with it a voice at the convention.

“We will be going to the caucus ... states and we will be promoting the whole idea of getting more delegates, because that’s the name of the game,” Paul said following the South Carolina primary.

Mitt Romney is presently well ahead in terms of delegates, now at 84. Newt Gingrich has 27 delegates, Ron Paul has 10, and Rick Santorum has 8 delegates, according to CNN.

Republican presidential candidates must gain 1,144 out of 2,286 delegates to win the nomination.