Mitt Romney Builds Momentum in FL and NV
Mitt Romney scored two big wins in the GOP primary race last week. On Tuesday, Romney beat a distant 2nd place finisher in Newt Gingrich by almost 15 points. This decisive victory halted almost all momentum Gingrich had accumulated after winning South Carolina.
On Saturday, Nevada voters went to their local caucus meetings and gave Romney another big victory. With most of the precincts reporting, Romney has just under 50 percent of the vote. He is followed by Gingrich, who is currently at just under 22 percent. These percentages may change because some of Nevada’s bigger counties are still hand-counting ballots.
As of right now, Romney actually earned less of the vote in Nevada than he did in 2008. Having said that, these two wins give him a lot of momentum going forward.
First Multi-State Election Day Coming Tuesday
For the first time during this nomination season, multiple states will be holding elections on the same day this Tuesday. 76 delegates will be up for grabs in the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses. Missouri will be holding a primary on Tuesday as well, but it doesn’t count towards the final nomination result as their delegate’s votes will be decided in caucus in mid-March.
Romney has the momentum heading into Tuesday’s contests and it shows in a Public Policy Polling (PPP) poll out of Colorado that was released Saturday. The poll shows Romney with a 14 point lead over Rick Santorum and a 22 point lead over Gingrich.
In Minnesota, the outcome is significantly harder to predict. A PPP poll also released Saturday shows all four candidates within ten points of each other with Santorum at 29 percent, Romney at 27 percent, Gingrich at 22 percent, and Paul at 19 percent.
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