Romney received about 48% of the vote, while Newt Gingrich received almost 23%. It’s no surprise that isolationist Ron Paul gained about 18% of the vote in Nevada. Unfortunately, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum only received about 11% of the Nevada vote as he, for the most part, bypassed the state.
Romney thanked his supporters in Las Vegas telling them, “This isn’t the first time you gave me your vote of confidence, but this time I’m going to take it to the White House,” referring to his 2008 win in Nevada.
Then Romney turned his attention to Obama saying, “Nevada has had enough of his kind of help in fixing its home mortgage crisis and that he failed at bringing down unemployment.”
Romney had largely ignored his Republican rivals and focused on Obama’s failures as president. But once Gingrich began to rise in the polls Romney had to challenge and was forced to address the other candidates in the race.
But Romney’s victory speech was directed straight towards Obama’s miserable failures as president saying, “This president began his presidency by apologizing for America. He should now be apologizing TO America.”
The only time Romney referenced the other GOP candidates was when he told supporters that he was the only one who could fix the economy, “unlike other people running for president.”
Gingrich held a news conference in which he accused the Romney campaign of spreading rumors that he would drop out of the race, calling it “their greatest fantasy.”
Now the pressure is on for the other Republican presidential candidates to knock Mitt Romney’s lead down after his big wins in Florida and Nevada.
Newt Gingrich predicted his chances would most likely improve as the race continues on. He predicted that by April, with the Texas primary, he should be able to gain some ground and reclaim “frontrunner” status.
“There are some very big differences evolving in this campaign as we move forward,” Gingrich said. “I believe the vast majority of Republicans across the country are going to want an alternative to a Massachusetts moderate.”
