Romney thanks supporters for Nevada victory; Gingrich vows to stay in race

Standing before an energized crowd of supporters in Las Vegas, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney thanked Nevada this evening for his victory in the state's GOP caucuses.

"You know this is not the first time you gave me your vote of confidence," Romney said in a ballroom at the Red Rock Resort. "And this time, I'm going to take it to the White House."

Incomplete results showed Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, leading with 43 percent of the vote. He won 51 percent of the vote in Nevada's 2008 caucuses.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was following with 26 percent, while Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 18 percent, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum had 13 percent.

Romney's rousing speech, punctuated by frequent applause and cheers from the audience, lasted about 10 minutes. He did not talk about his GOP rivals but took shot after shot at the president.

"I've walked in Nevada neighborhoods blighted by abandoned homes where people wonder whether or not Obama failed them," he said. "Well, Mr. President, Nevada has had enough of your kind of help."

During a news conference tonight at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Gingrich attempted to put an end to rumors that he will withdraw from the race.

"I am a candidate for president of the United States," he said. "I will be a candidate for president of the United States."

The party expected at least 50,000 registered Republicans to caucus statewide.

There were 28 GOP delegates at stake in Saturday's Nevada caucuses. Each candidate will be awarded delegates based on the proportion of the vote, so even the losers may win delegates. If a candidate gets 50 percent of the vote, for example, he would be awarded half of the delegates, or 14.

Pre-caucus polls showed Romney was favored to win, with Gingrich and Paul competing for second place. Those predictions were proving true as the Nevada Republican Party began releasing official results this evening via its Twitter feed.

As caucus sites opened across Nevada this morning, the candidates were nowhere to be seen. Paul and Santorum had moved on to campaign in other states. Romney also traveled elsewhere but returned this evening to speak at Red Rock Resort.

In Clark County, the doors opened at 8 a.m. at 38 sites, mostly schools and community centers, and the caucus meetings began at 9 a.m.

A special sundown caucus was held at the Adelson Educational Campus for members of the Jewish faith and Seventh-day Adventists, who hold Saturdays sacred.

The late meeting delayed the official results. The Nevada Republican Party began releasing results from some of the state's other 16 counties shortly after 5 p.m. via its Twitter feed, @nvgop. But Clark County, where 60 percent of the state's Republicans live, didn't plan to release its results until after the post-sundown caucus was complete.

A GOP insider and sources in the Romney campaign said they expected the strong Romney trend throughout Clark County, while Paul might do better than third in the state's rural counties.

Paul lived up to expectations in Nye County, where he won with 46 percent of the vote. Romney followed with 29 percent, Gingrich had 17 percent and Santorum received 8 percent.

GREEN VALLEY CAUCUSES

As caucusing began this morning, some sites, including Green Valley High School in Henderson, were beset by confusion with voters wandering high school hallways in search of their precinct locations.

"It's discouraging," Wendy Paez said. "You want to be part of the process."

Dozens of people roamed the school halls desperate to find their precinct.

Paez, 53, said she was torn between Gingrich and Romney.

"Newt is a loose cannon, but he's well spoken," she said. "On moral issues I support Mitt. I'll probably favor Mitt because he's a businessman, and they can probably dig up more dirt on Newt."

The candidate who can help fix Nevada's high unemployment and foreclosures and lessen the nation's $14 trillion debt will have her vote, added Paez, a Mormon.

"We can't spend more than we make, personally, and expect something different," she said. "I'm hoping we have a good turnout, and that people won't think because there are a lot of Mormons in Nevada that Romney automatically won."

Later, caucus participants crammed into a tiny government classroom at the high school.

It was so hot, one woman fanned herself to cool down -- in stark contrast to the caucus-goers who shivered in line outside.

Surrounded by photos of U.S. presidents and front pages of newspapers, voters debated over who they wanted to become the nominee and take on Obama.

A Santorum supporter stumped for his candidate's "moral values." The man discussed the "mudslinging" of the other candidates.

Another man, a business owner, said he supports Paul because the congressman "sticks to his guns."

The Santorum supporter disputed Paul's views on foreign policy.

A room with two precincts grew louder with debate as caucus-goers chatted about their candidates.

Some participants struggled to listen while others appeared to become distracted.

"Anybody running now will do better than what we have today," said one woman, who supported Romney.

That drew applause from her precinct.

A Gingrich supporter ran down Romney's campaign for spending millions of dollars "telling us why we shouldn't vote for Newt or Santorum."

"Unfortunately it has become really ugly," he said. "I'm disappointed as a Republican, I think this will hurt us in the fall."

The "Anybody-but-Obama" mentality was strong throughout caucus-goers, who agreed that they'll support whoever gets the nomination.

One caucus participant said he was weary of that mentality because the party needs the strongest candidate to beat Obama.

"There was the anybody-but-Reid mentality, and Sharron Angle couldn't win," the man said, referring to the 2010 U.S. Senate race between Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, who won, and Republican challenger Sharron Angle.

CENTENNIAL CAUCUSES

In the gymnasium at Centennial High School, caucus-goers were choosing delegates at 9:30 a.m.

Two small groups of people sat in plastic chairs, one group at each end of the basketball court. A party official at one end counted the voters in his group.

"Forty-eight? Any more? Did I miss anyone?"

No one responded.

"OK," he said. "I'll go get the ballots."

Earlier outside Centennial, close to 100 cars crowded into the parking lot, and there was a steady stream of Republicans getting ready to caucus.

A party official directed people to where they were supposed to go, and a smart capitalist was taking advantage of the crowd.

"We're staunch Republicans," said Chris Steele, who was selling Romney and Gingrich T-shirts, buttons and bumper stickers outside. "We don't do Democrat stuff."

NORTHERN NEVADA CAUCUSES

In Carson City about 40 people lined up in 14-degree temperature at 7 a.m. for a chance to be the first to vote in the caucus.

Unlike in other counties, Carson City offered a "vote and go" procedure to allow people to cast their ballots early in case they had to work or had other engagements today.

Carson City GOP Chairman Jay Baldwin expected half of Carson City's 10,000 Republicans to vote before caucusing ended at 3 p.m.

Gov. Brian Sandoval arrived at the Silver State Charter School in Carson City about 8 a.m. and noted the line of people waiting to vote.

"I'm excited to participate in the caucus," he said. "I have been at Republican events (across the state in recent weeks), and at every one it was standing-room only."

Sandoval said he was serving as a "Republican cheerleader" and intended to visit three voting sites in Reno before leaving for Las Vegas to give two afternoon speeches. He planned to vote at his home precinct, Swope Middle School, in Reno.

"I am voting for the next president of the United States," added Sandoval, who would not reveal his choice.

The first voters in the caucus were Rita and Brad Homer, both Gingrich supporters.

"Newt is very smart, and he has wonderful ideas," Rita Homer said.

Aware Romney is far ahead in the polls, she said Nevada is a betting state and she bets on Gingrich.

"I think Romney is a liar," Brad Homer added.

Another early voter was Pat Wood, who said her goal was "to get that putz (President Obama) out of the White House."

"Mitt Romney has been the governor of a state and he has turned a lot of businesses around," she added. "I voted for him last time and I will vote for him again."

Gingrich, she added, "is a grump."

Today's caucuses are the first presidential vote in the West after the contenders split the first four early states. The mixed results exposed a division in the GOP electorate as conservatives divided support among a rotating cast of the front-runner Romney's foes.

Romney was the heavy favorite to win in Nevada, and his success added to his earlier victories in New Hampshire and Florida.

Review-Journal reporters Kristi Jourdan, Richard Lake, Laura Myers and Ed Vogel and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.