Even after spending significantly less time in Nevada than he had in previous states, Mitt Romney came out on top again, with more than double the votes of second-place candidate, Newt Gingrich, during the state’s Republican caucuses on Saturday.
Pulling in almost 48 percent of the vote, and with 71 percent of precincts reporting, Romney led Gingrich by more than double, with Gingrich coming in at less than 23 percent.
A lead like that has led students like Eric Cecil, from Winfield, W. Va., to consider what, other than his strong candidacy, has influenced Romney’s recent success.
“The western United States, along with the northeast, are essentially Romney’s to lose. You could consider it his ‘home turf’,” said Cecil, a junior, majoring in business management. “I believe Republicans in those two regions relate with Romney well. Of course, the votes out west are impacted greatly on the LDS population. They know what his values are and can relate to them.”
Romney’s strong lead gives students like Cecil hope for success in future primaries and caucuses.
“February will be an awesome month for Romney. With his wins in Florida and Nevada, he will continue to pick up momentum,” Cecil said. “If he can harness that momentum well, which I believe he can and will, then he will be the Republican nominee for President of the United States.”
Other students, like Morgan Williams, from Broomfield, Colo., anticipate further success for Romney in the future.
“Mitt is a very strong candidate,” said Williams, a senior majoring in Russian. “The whole time, it’s almost felt like Mitt versus everybody else. I think he’ll do well.”
According to Cecil and Williams, success like that is threatening other candidates and they’ll have to find new ways to stay on top of they want to compete with Romney in the future.
“Gingrich will have to depend heavily on staying in the news,” Cecil said. “There aren’t any debates coming up anytime soon and he is running out of money fast for his campaign. He has to stay in the headlines and not let his voice be forgotten.”
Gingrich isn’t the only one losing momentum, according to Williams.
“Frankly, I think everybody but Romney should drop out,” he said. “The more focused the Republicans are on a good candidate, the more likely that candidate will win.”
Candidates Ron Paul, who took almost 19 percent of the Nevada vote, and Rick Santorum, who took 11 percent, have been suffering over the last several primaries and caucuses. Santorum’s last win was in early January in Iowa and Paul has yet to take a state.
“Thank you Nevada!” Romney posted on Facebook Saturday night. “Our message of restoring America’s greatness continues to resonate through the west and across the country!”
