Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney easily won the GOP presidential primary in Florida Jan. 31—but his three opponents are still continuing the race.
Romney had 46 percent of the vote. Runner-up Newt Gingrich had 32 percent, Rick Santorum had 13 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul garnered 7 percent of the vote.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Romney said, "A competitive primary does not divide us; it prepares us and we will win. And when we gather back in Tampa seven months from now for our convention ... ours will be a united party with a winning ticket for America."
Three different people—Rick Santorum, Romney and Newt Gingrich—had won the first three states ( Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, respectively ) . However, Florida was the first state with a closed primary, which doesn't allow independent voters.
Standing at a podium with a sign reading "46 states to go," Gingrich said, "We are going to contest every place and we are going to win and we will be in Tampa as the nominee in August."
Neither Santorum nor Paul made a serious effort to win Florida, moving ahead to other states to campaign.
