Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney wins Florida primary, surges ahead of Gingrich

By Matt Viser, Michael Levenson and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

TAMPA, Fla. -- Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney swept to victory today in the Florida Republican presidential primary, surging past former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who had tangled with him in a campaign that was notable for its nastiness.

Gingrich at his rally (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had 767,476, or 46.4 percent of the votes, compared with 528,233, or 31.9 percent, for Gingrich. Former US Senator Rick Santorum and US Representative Ron Paul garnered 13.4 percent and 7 percent of the vote, respectively.

The crowd at Romney headquarters, many outfitted with little American flags, erupted in cheers and applause as Fox News called the race for their candidate.

Shortly after, in the opening sentences of his victory speech, Romney offered kind words to Gingrich and his two other opponents, saying they were “serious and able competitors” and congratulating them on a “hard-fought contest.”

He said Democrats might believe the primary tussle between him and Gingrich would leave the party divided and weak, “but I’ve got news for them. A competitive primary does not divide us, it prepares us. And we will win.”

Romney quickly pivoted to the general election, never mentioning Gingrich by name and focusing almost solely on Democratic President Barack Obama, blaming him for the struggling economy and warning that Obama wanted to “fundamentally transform” America.

“Together we will build an America where hope is a new job with a paycheck, not a faded word on an old bumper sticker,” Romney said, referring to a 2008 Obama campaign mantra, “Hope.”

“In another era of American crisis, Thomas Paine is reported to have said, ‘Lead, follow, or get out of the way,’” Romney said. “Mr. President, you were elected to lead. You chose to follow. And now it’s time for you to get out of the way.”

After a disheartening loss to Gingrich 10 days ago in the South Carolina primary, Romney had been hoping for a victory that would give him major momentum as the race turns to the seven other states that vote during the next month.

A defiant Gingrich showed no signs of getting out of Romney’s way, vowing to continue his campaign. “We are going to contest every place and we are going to win and we will be in Tampa as the nominee in August,” he said in his speech to supporters.

“It is now clear that this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader Newt Gingrich and the Massachusetts moderate, and the voters of Florida really made that clear,” he said.

“There are folks over here in both parties who are quite comfortable in managing the decay,” he said. “We believe it is cheating our grandchildren to not insist on fundamental change in Washington, even if the establishment doesn’t like it.”

Romney is planning to go Wednesday to Minnesota, which is holding a caucus next week, and Wednesday night to Nevada, which has a caucus Saturday. Gingrich was planning to head to Nevada soon after addressing his supporters tonight.

Most of the polls in Florida closed at 7 p.m. and returns quickly began flowing in. But some polls in the western sections of the Florida panhandle didn’t close until 8 p.m. because they are in the Central, rather than Eastern, Time Zone. The Associated Press and television networks called the race for Romney moments after 8 p.m.

Santorum, who has been vying for the conservative vote with Gingrich, said tonight he would continue his campaign.

In a speech to supporters in Nevada, he said the Florida race had been a “melee of negativism” and Americans didn’t want to see a “mud-wrestling match where everybody walks away dirty.”

He said Newt Gingrich had become the issue in the campaign and urged people to vote for him instead if they wanted “a strong principled conservative candidate who’s not going to be the issue in the campaign.”

Ron Paul, in a speech to his supporters in Nevada, also said he would continue his campaign.

“People are beginning to realize the problem is too much government. We need more personal liberty,” he said.

The prize for Romney in Florida’s winner-take-all primary: 50 delegates, more than any candidate has accumulated in the first three contests.

Gingrich had tried to mobilize grass-roots conservatives, evangelicals, and Tea Party activists against Romney, arguing that Romney was too liberal a candidate – and a twister of the truth.

Accusing Gingrich of not having the temperament to be president and of being an “influence-peddler” after he left Congress, Romney unleashed a flood of attack ads in Florida, far outspending Gingrich; he dispatched surrogates to Gingrich’s events; and he challenged Gingrich in two debates.

This morning he defended his use of negative campaign ads, saying he will not hesitate to fire when fired upon. “I’ll tell you, if you attack me, I’m not going to just sit back, I’m going to fight back and I’m going to fight back hard,” Romney said at a news conference.

“His comments most recently attacking me have been really quite sad and, I think, painfully revealing about the speaker and what he’s willing to say and do to try and take the nomination,” Romney added. “So I just can’t stand back and let him say those things about me without responding.”

Globe correspondent Katherine Landergan contributed to this report. Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.