Romney Favored as Florida Primary Opens

By Jon E. Dougherty at 31 Jan 2012

(Newsroom America) -- Newt Gingrich managed to make a contest of the Republican presidential nomination with a win in South Carolina earlier in the month, but heading into Florida's winner-take-all primary Tuesday, the former House speaker seems hopelessly outmatched by rival Mitt Romney.

The former Massachusetts governor, who won New Hampshire handily and finished second in Iowa and the Palmetto State, seems poised to pick up crucial Florida as well, a win that would propel him to the top of the shrinking list of GOP contenders who are vying to face President Obama in the fall.

On Monday survey results nationwide had Romney pulling ahead of Gingrich in the Sunshine State, while Romney maintained a slight edge over Obama in key swing states.

In recent days, Romney has sounded increasingly optimist regarding Florida and what he believes will be his eventual nomination.

"With a turnout like this, I'm beginning to feel we might win tomorrow," Romney told a crowd of several hundred during a campaign stop in Dunedin Monday.

For his part, Gingrich promised not to back down, saying the GOP would never nominate a "liberal Republican."

Polls opened at 7 a.m. across Florida Tuesday morning, and state election officials said they predicted a heavy turnout of about 2 million voters, up from 1.9 million in the 2008 GOP primary.

The Associated Press reported that about 605,000 residents had already voted as of Monday morning, either via absentee ballot or by visiting an early polling station.

Contact Jon E. Dougherty

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