Romney takes Florida victory

Mitt Romney's victory in Florida's Republican US presidential primary has made him the man to beat in the race for the party's nomination to challenge President Barack Obama, Reuters reported.

1 February 2012, 12:00am

2 min read

US Republican Mitt Romney took the lead in Florida's primary with 46% of the votes comparing with rival Newt Gingrich's 32%

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After pounding his nearest rival Newt Gingrich with negative advertisements, Romney rolled to an impressive triumph on Tuesday night in Florida, winning 46% of the vote to Gingrich's 32% in a key battleground state.

The next contest in the state-by-state battle for the Republican nomination to face Obama, a Democrat, in the 6 November US election is in Nevada, which holds caucuses on Saturday. That is followed next Tuesday by caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota and a primary in Missouri.

The well-organized and well-financed Romney has now won two of the first four contests, also capturing New Hampshire while coming in second in Iowa and South Carolina.

Romney's win in Florida got his campaign back on track after the staggering loss to Gingrich in South Carolina 10 days earlier. But with Gingrich vowing to fight on for months, the race remains far from over.

This means there is the potential for a lengthy, divisive battle that could damage the party's chances of denying Obama re-election in November.

Romney may face questions about the negative tactics he has used to dispatch Gingrich. Florida media were awash with millions of dollars in ads that focused on Gingrich's ethical troubles while speaker of the US House of Representatives in the 1990s and questioning his conservative bonafides.

Gingrich's ads were equally negative against Romney. He just got outspent.

Romney hopes the seven state contests in February will cement his status as the runaway front-runner and make Gingrich a non-factor.

In his victory speech in Tampa on Tuesday, Romney held his fire against his Republican rivals. Instead, he took aim at Obama. Romney stressed his belief that he can turn around the US economy based on his experience as a private equity executive and former governor of Massachusetts.

A bruised and battered Gingrich aims to ride out February and hang on until March when the Southern states he wants to win come into play.

Former US senator Rick Santorum, who won in Iowa, came in third in Florida, followed by US congressman Ron Paul.