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Floridians Head To The Polls

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A pair of voters cast their ballots, Tuesday at a fire station in Coral Gables, Fla. (AP)
A pair of voters cast their ballots, Tuesday at a fire station in Coral Gables, Fla. (AP)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Mitt Romney oozed confidence and a defiant Newt Gingrich seemed to acknowledge his momentum had been checked, at least for now, as Florida Republicans voted Tuesday to decide who gets the state's 50 delegates, the biggest prize yet in the Republican presidential nomination contest.

Romney is heavily favored in the winner-take-all primary, the final and possibly pivotal contest in a high-stakes month in which the former Massachusetts governor has claimed one win and two second-place finishes so far. On Monday, he campaigned so optimistically that he broke into song.

Without predicting a winner or endorsing a candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told CNN on Tuesday: "The winner of Florida is in all likelihood going to be the nominee of our party."

But Gingrich would have none of that talk. Outside a polling place in Orlando Tuesday, he told reporters the race wouldn't be decided until June or July - "unless Romney drops out earlier."

In Palm Beach, Julian Stoopler, a 68-year-old investment adviser, said he's always liked Gingrich but ultimately decided to vote for former business leader Romney. "The condition of the country has deteriorated so badly that we need a CEO to turn it around," Stoopler said.

In Miami's Little Havana, car salesman Osvaldo Mitat, 69, favored Gingrich. He's impressed by the former House speaker's "commitment to the Cuban community," Mitat said, and Gingrich's marital history doesn't bother him - Mitat has been divorced four times himself.

Guest:

  • Sergio Bustos, politics editor for the Miami Herald

This segment aired on January 31, 2012.

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