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    February 04, 2012

Romney Takes Lead Into Nevada's Saturday Caucuses

   VOA News
   Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
   Romney, greets the Fisher family backstage prior to a campaign rally in
   Elko, Nev., Feb. 3, 2012.
   Photo: AP
   Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
   Romney, greets the Fisher family backstage prior to a campaign rally in
   Elko, Nev., Friday, Feb. 3, 2012.

   U.S. Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney is on pace for a
   huge victory in the western state of Nevada's Republican presidential
   caucuses Saturday after a commanding win in the Florida primary.
   A new opinion poll commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and
   8NewsNow gives the former Massachusetts governor a 20-point lead over
   former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich - Romney with 45
   percent and Gingrich with 25 percent. The survey of likely Republican
   caucus voters showed former senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and
   Texas Congressman Ron Paul far behind.
   Nevada is one of eight presidential nominating contests to take place
   ahead of so-called "Super Tuesday" on March 6, when 10 states will hold
   their nominating contests.
   Romney is expected to get a boost in Nevada from fellow followers of
   the Mormon religion. He won Nevada the first time he ran for the
   Republican nomination in 2008. Then, Mormons made up about a quarter of
   Nevada Republican caucus voters, and 95 percent of them backed Romney.
   Gingrich and Paul campaigned in Nevada, while Santorum is focusing his
   attention on Missouri, which holds its presidential primary Tuesday.
   Under Florida state Republican rules, Romney picked up all 50 of the
   delegates Florida is allocated at the national convention. To win the
   presidential nomination, a candidate needs 1,144 of 2,286 delegate
   votes at the convention.
   More than 200 delegates will be decided over the few weeks, while 437
   delegates are up for grabs next month on "Super Tuesday."

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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