Final Nevada results give Mitt Romney half of the vote
With 100 percent of the Nevada caucus votes finally tallied, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won easily with 50 percent of the vote.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich held on to second place with 21.1 percent, followed closely by Texas Representative Ron Paul at 18.7 percent. Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum came in a distant fourth with 9.9 percent.
The state’s 28 delegates will be awarded proportionally – 14 for Romney, six for Gingrich, five for Paul, and three for Santorum.
The results from Saturday’s caucus were delayed after precincts in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, were slow in reporting their results. Some results came in late due to the addition of an evening caucus to accommodate Orthodox Jews, who could not vote before sundown on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. But the results were still not complete by yesterday evening. The Associated Press reported that the ballots were verified by hand to ensure their accuracy, which contributed to the delay.
Turnout was extraordinarily low – just 32,894 votes were recorded, out of more than 470,000 registered Republican voters in the state. (Gingrich and Paul were separated by less than 800 votes.) In the 2008 presidential caucuses, more than 44,000 Republican votes were cast.
Democrats are likely to point to the turnout figures as indicative of an enthusiasm gap among GOP voters. Both Paul and Santorum, in separate TV appearances yesterday, pointed to the low turnout as an indication that voters are unenthusiastic about the two leading candidates.
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