Mitt Romney easily won the Florida Republican primary Tuesday night, surging closer to the presidential nomination to face pro-abortion President Barack Obama.
Tuesday night’s results halted the momentum from rival Newt Gingrich’s win in South Carolina last month as exit polling data showed Romney wining or close with Gingrich in all groups — women, Hispanics, conservatives, and people old and young.
With more than half of votes counted, Romney was leading Mr. Gingrich by 47% to 31%. Former Sen. Rick Santorum was third and Rep. Ron Paul was fourth. Mr. Santorum had 13% of the vote and Mr. Paul 7%, with more than 50% of precincts reporting.
“Doing well in Florida is a pretty good indication of your prospects nationally,” Mr. Romney said earlier Tuesday while Gingrich vowed to continue, saying, “This is a long, long way from being over.”
“I’d say June or July, unless Romney drops out earlier,” Gingrich said.
“The same people who said I was dead in June, or the people who said I was dead in Iowa, those people?” Gingrich said. “They’re about as accurate as they have been the last time they were wrong.”
Gingrich’s second place showing, clearly ahead of Rick Santorum, the Iowa victor, and maverick libertarian congressman Ron Paul, will bolster his case that he is the only conservative alternative to Romney.
Floridians’ top concern was the economy, according to exit-poll data and Romney put the issue in the center of his campaign that got negative in the Sunshine State. Early exit-poll data indicated that more than half of voters were preoccupied most with the economy while many also believed the most important quality in a candidate was his ability to beat Mr Obama.
Speaking to reporters before the polls closed, Romney said he learned a lesson from the double-digit loss he suffered at Gingrich’s hands 10 days ago in South Carolina.
“If we’re successful here, it’ll be pretty clear that when attacked you have to respond and you can’t let charges go unanswered,” Romney said after visiting campaign volunteers. “I needed to make sure that instead of being outgunned in terms of attacks that I responded aggressively. I think I have and hopefully that will serve me well here.”
Now the contest heads Saturday to Nevada, a caucus state.
All in all, the Republican candidates are campaigning as pro-life advocates and would be monumentally better than pro-abortion President Barack Obama. No matter which GOP hopeful you support, they all would very likely implement a host of pro-life policies, appoint pro-life people to key administrative and court positions, and give unborn children the hope they don’t enjoy currently when it comes to any chance of gaining legal protection from abortion.
Throughout this campaign, LifeNews has endeavored to report fairly, accurately, and thoroughly on all of the pro-life candidates for president and we will continue to do so. We have not endorsed or opposed any particular candidate but urge the pro-life community to unite together to defeat Obama in November.
