TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Mitt Romney routed Newt Gingrich in the Florida primary Tuesday night, rebounding smartly from an earlier defeat and taking a major step toward the Republican presidential nomination. Gingrich vowed to press on despite the one-sided setback.
"We are going to contest every place and we are going to win and we are going to be in Tampa as the nominee in August," Gingrich told his supporters.
Romney's victory gives him more than three times as many convention delegates as Gingrich.
Romney won all 50 delegates in Florida, giving him a total of 87, including endorsements from Republican National Committee members who will automatically attend the convention. Gingrich has 26 delegates, Rick Santorum has 14 and Ron Paul has four.
Romney, appearing and sounding triumphant, said the primary process, however bruising, was strengthening him for the general election.
"As this primary unfolds, our opponents in the other party have been watching, and they like to comfort themselves with the thought that a competitive campaign will leave us divided and weak," he said. "But I've got news for them, a competitive primary does not divide us it prepares us and we will win."
After losing soundly to Gingrich in South Carolina ten days ago, Romney and his allied Super PACs spent more than $17 million running 12,700 commercials in an attempt to put an end to Gingrich's hopes. 92 percent of them were so-called negative spots. Romney ran one positive commercial which highlighted his own qualifications. It was in Spanish.
The race for delegates is still in the early stages. It takes 1,144 delegates to win the nomination.
Next up: Nevada, which has 28 delegates at stake in it caucuses on Saturday.
Joe Gantt, head coach of Texas Tech's number one ranked debate team broke down the primary vote, the impact of the advertisement gap, where the race goes from here and which candidate has the best chance to defeat President Barack Obama.
To see Gantt's discussion with FOX 34's Jeff Klotzman, click on the video icon.
