Romney wins Nev. by wide margin

The former Massachusetts governor — so confident that he decamped for much of the day to campaign in Colorado — is hoping the Nevada victory will lead to several others this month and put a blanket of inevitability around him.

With 41 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had 42.2 percent of the vote. There was a fierce fight developing for second place, with 26.3 percent for Newt Gingrich and 18.4 percent for Ron Paul. Rick Santorum trailed at 13.2 percent.

Romney’s victory party at the Red Rock Casino here on the outskirts of the city burst into applause as the big-screen televisions, turned to Fox News, announced that Romney had won right at 7 p.m. Pacific time.

Making a hard pivot to the general election, Romney didn’t even mention his Republican primary opponents during his 10-minute address — using all of his rhetorical energy to criticize President Obama.

‘‘America needs a president who can fix the economy because he understands the economy. And I do, and I will,’’ Romney said. ‘‘This is a president who began his presidency by apologizing for America. He should now be apologizing to America.’’

Romney, who came into the state the heavy favorite, won among nearly every group of voters to capture his third win out of the first five states to vote.

The victory, coming four days after an overwhelming win in Florida, solidifies Romney’s front-runner status and prevented Gingrich from rebounding.

Representative Joe Heck, a Nevada Republican and one of Romney’s top congressional supporters, called on the former House speaker last night to drop out of the race.

Gingrich said he had no such plans, pledging to stay in the race until the Republican National Convention in August. He said hoped to catch up to Romney, who now leads in the delegate count, by early April.

‘‘We will continue the campaign all the way to Tampa,’’ Gingrich said at a press conference, held in lieu of a traditional election-night party. ‘‘The vast majority of Americans will want an alternative to a Massachusetts moderate.’’

He also criticized Romney as a politician who deliberately deceives voters and accused the former Massachusetts governor of spreading rumors that Gingrich would leave the race.

The first in the West caucus capped several days of campaigning that put Nevada in the spotlight and marked a dramatic departure from the churches, diners, and town hall meetings that guided the early phase of the campaign. The ladies who work at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch brothel endorsed Ron Paul and started raising money for him. Newt Gingrich campaigned at a bar off the Las Vegas Strip that features bikini bull-riding.

‘‘It’s all right,’’ one man said when Gingrich’s sound system failed at a rally in Reno. ‘‘We’re all drunk.’’

Last week, Nevada voters witnessed few TV ads, no debates, and a relatively small number of campaign appearances. The week’s most stirring event turned out to be an unexpected endorsement from Donald Trump, who bestowed his blessing upon Romney at the glitzy Trump Towers near the Las Vegas Strip.

Romney spent $371,000 on television ads in Nevada, according to the Smart Media Group. That was far less than he spent in the other early-voting states. Paul spent $350,000, and Rick Santorum $12,000. Gingrich did not advertise on television.

The caucuses were open to some 470,000 registered Republicans. The state’s 28 delegates will be awarded proportionally.

Romney won Nevada overwhelmingly four years ago, with 51 percent of the vote, and he had been heavily favored to win the state again.

About 7 percent of the state’s population shares Romney’s Mormon faith. But about one-fourth of those surveyed as they entered their caucuses yesterday said they were Mormon, about the same as in 2008. According to those surveys, Romney won 91 percent of Mormon caucus-goers, but he also won among Catholics, Protestants, and born-again evangelicals.

Nearly half of surveyed voters said their most important issue when selecting their candidate was his ability to defeat President Obama, and Romney won 74 percent of those voters.

Particularly significant was that among the 74 percent of caucus-goers who described themselves as Tea Party supporters, Romney won 51 percent of the vote, according to the surveys. Romney has struggled in the past to appeal to the Tea Party, and those results could signify that he’s broadening his support.

Romney’s organization was much stronger than his rivals’ and has been in place for months. With the highest foreclosure and jobless rates in the country, the state also seemed receptive to Romney’s background in business and his focus on the economy.

Romney, who pummeled Gingrich to win Florida, rarely mentioned his rivals last week, instead focusing almost exclusively on Obama. Gingrich, though, has escalated his rhetoric on Romney, calling him ‘‘Obama-lite’’ and a ‘‘little food stamp.’’

The nominating contest will now turn to caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado and a nonbinding primary in Missouri, all on Tuesday. Maine started its caucus yesterday and will complete it next Saturday.

Romney, who won all of those states except Missouri in 2008, felt so confident on his standing in Nevada that he held no events yesterday before voters went to caucuses. Instead, he flew to Colorado Springs for a rally at a metal-works factory.

Romney is planning to take today off before returning to the campaign trail in Colorado. Gingrich announced plans to campaign in Minnesota, Colorado, and Ohio.

Santorum and Paul, who have both vowed to remain in the race, were already looking to the next contests. Paul was in Minnesota, and Santorum in Colorado.

Santorum, tailoring his message to issues important in the West, told supporters in Colorado that Washington had gone too far on environmental policies and were hampering ranchers.

Santorum is hoping to emerge as the chief alternative to Romney — a role that Gingrich seized after his surprisingly strong win in South Carolina — and said that Colorado was ‘‘a wide-open state’’ that could give his campaign a boost.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.