Romney Wins Florida GOP Primary [UPDATED]
[UPDATED Jan. 31 | 5:30 p.m. PST : Mitt Romney emerged victorious in Tuesday's GOP Florida Primary. The former governor of Massachusetts earned a solid victory over fellow candidates Newt Gingrinch, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, who finished second, third and fourth, respectively.]
Recent polls show Romney ahead by a margin of 5 to 20 percentage points, but Gingrich has far from accepted defeat in this race, especially considering his upset victory in South Carolina last week.
Gingrich has been updating his Twitter, urging voters to “send a message” and “surprise the Washington Establishment.”
Meanwhile, Romney tweeted a message to his followers to go out and vote, saying “every single vote counts.” And for him, it could. While Romney is ahead in the polls right now, this is far from a done deal.
As the fourth state primary so far, Florida’s vote stands as a tie-breaker between Romney, who previously claimed New Hampshire, Gingrich, who carried South Carolina, and Rick Santorum, who barely won Iowa at the beginning of the month.
Florida’s early primary date puts it in a position of influence, as it did in 2008 when Sen. John McCain’s win in the state gave him the momentum to claim the Republican nomination.
While Gingrich and Romney are going head to head over the Florida delegates, Santorum is effectively skipping the state. He has focused his attentions on upcoming primaries in western states Colorado and Nevada.
Meanwhile, fellow candidate Ron Paul is channeling Obama’s successful 2008 technique in collecting delegates in smaller and lower-turnout caucuses, eschewing stronghold states, like Florida, almost entirely. Paul is not even present in Florida today for the Primary.
Romney’s strategy is to use the theoretical victory in winner-take-all Florida to regain momentum in his campaign and take the nomination. He has the advantage of heavy advertising in Florida – a perk too expensive for other candidates’ campaigns.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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