Decision 2012: Romney Declared Winner In Florida GOP Primary

By: Josh Robin

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney won Tuesday's winner-takes-all Republican presidential primary in Florida and has now earned 50 convention delegates.

By 11 p.m. Tuesday, with 99 percent of Florida's precincts reporting, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney had 46 percent of the vote, compared to 32 percent for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Trailing far behind were former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum with 13 percent and Texas Congressman Ron Paul with 7 percent.

Addressing his supporters in Tampa, Fla. Tuesday night, Romney started his victory speech by saying the tense fight with his GOP rivals in Florida was a good thing.

"A competitive primary does not divide us. It prepares us and we will win," said Romney.

Criticizing President Barack Obama's economic record, Romney vowed to repeal Obama's health care reform and build "a military so powerful" that could easily dwarf any other nation's armed forces.

"Together we will build an America where hope is a new job with a paycheck, not a faded word on an old bumper sticker," said Romney.

The biggest nominating contest so far gave many the frontrunner the lead in many of Florida's regions, except for the most conservative northern part, which went to Gingrich.

The former speaker of the House of Representatives was not giving up Tuesday, and spoke at a podium with a sign that said it all — "46 States To Go."

"This will be a two-person race, between the conservative leader Newt Gingrich and the Massachusetts moderate," Gingrich told his supporters Tuesday night.

Stung by a loss to Gingrich in South Carolina, Romney pulled strong debate performances and flooded the Florida airwaves with attack ads. By one count, more than nine out of 10 commercials were negative.

Romney and his supporters spent $15 million in Florida, about five times what Gingrich and his backers plunked down by one estimate.

Both Santorum and Paul skipped out on campaigning for the Florida primary and are focusing on smaller and less expensive states, including Colorado and Nevada.

Nevada's caucuses come next, on Saturday.