Photo Gallery McCain Attains Frontrunner Status in Florida
US Senator John McCain won the Republican presidential primary in Florida on Tuesday.
He won with 36 percent of the vote among registered Republicans. Mitt Romney placed second with 31 percent, Rudy Giulini came in third with 15 percent and Mike Huckabee took fourth with 14 percent of the vote.
McCain's victory affirms his status as the frontrunner to win the Republican party's presidential nomination.
McCain's win in Florida and Romney's second place finish also sets up what could become a heated battle between the two candidates leading up to "Super Tuesday" on Feb. 5, when more than 20 states will hold presidential primaries.
Romney lost to McCain in Florida by five points despite that fact that voters polled said that the economy, a cornerstone of Romney's campaign platform, was their number one issue.
In his concession speech Tuesday evening, Romney poked fun at the sizable personal fortune that has allowed him to self-finance his campaign. "Don't expect to be part of the inheritance," he said to the crowd. "I'm not sure there's going to be much left after this."
The third place finish of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani was likely a death knell for his candidacy. Giuliani had campaigned almost exclusively in Florida for weeks and staked his candidacy on securing the state's 55 delegates.
As he thanked his supporters Tuesday night, he spoke of his campaign in the past tense; he is rumored to be planning to exit the race and endorse McCain as early as Wednesday.
Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, told supporters Tuesday that he would stay in the race.
Hillary Clinton, senator from New York, won the Democratic primary in Florida. The clout of her victory was weakened because the three leading candidates barely campaigned there -- Florida's delegates to the Democratic national convention have been disqualified because the state held its primary earlier than party rules allow.
Barack Obama, senator from Illinois, earned 33 percent of the Democratic vote in Florida, far behind Clinton, who took 50 percent. John Edwards finished third with 14 percent.
