Feb. 1, 2012

Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, won a resounding victory in the Florida Republican presidential primary on January 31 with 46 percent of the vote. Although former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich took only 29 percent of the vote, he declared that he has no intention of dropping out. Rick Santorum and Ron Paul trailed with 13 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

The campaign in Florida was characterized by a series of personal-attack television ads between the front-runners, which political experts suggest left both Romney and Gingrich bloodied. Romney spent at least $16 million on some 13,000 TV ads attacking the former speaker’s character and suitability. Gingrich ran around 200 ads attacking the way Romney made his multimillion-dollar fortune.

Mitt Romney won the Republican presidential primary in Florida. Abby Brack, Romney for President, Inc.