Romney Trounces Field in Florida Primary

Four states down, 46 to go.

To the surprise of next to no one, Mitt Romney emerged victorious in the Florida primary vote last night, claiming a whopping 46.4 per cent of the vote. Newt Gingrich, the runner-up, garnered 31.9 per cent of the 1,669,579 votes cast, while Rick Santorum (13.3 per cent) and Ron Paul (seven per cent) came in third and fourth. The Florida win makes Romney the first Republican candidate to have won two primaries in the race to the presidential nomination. In the upcoming days, there are a slew of primaries and caucuses that get underway, with Nevada holding its caucus vote on Feb. 4, Maine holding its caucus from Feb. 4 to Feb. 11, Colorado and Minnesota holding their caucuses on Feb. 7, and Missouri holding its primary vote on Feb. 7 as well. Of course, thanks to the quirks of the American campaign finance system, even if he loses all those votes, Gingrich will probably stick around at least until Super Tuesday on March 6. Columnists and editors across the continent couldn't be happier.