Romney won big in Florida, now the candidates move on to Nevada, Colorado, and Minnesota. Here are ten things you need to know.
- Romney wins Florida from unenthused voters: Mitt Romney’s big win in Florida comes with a lack of enthusiasm. Exit polls showed 4 in 10 voters don’t think Romney is conservative enough and some still want another candidate to enter the race.
- Democrat Bonamici wins Oregon special election: Democrats came out of last night holding on to a seat in the House. In Oregon’s 1st district, former state Senator Suzanne Bonamici beat Republican businessman Rob Cornilles in a special election to replace Rep. David Wu (D) who resigned last year. Though Bonamici won by a wide margin, the DCCC spent over $1 million on ads to keep the seat. The DCCC notes that Bonamici is the “third Democratic woman elected to Congress this cycle” in a special election, following Kathy Hochul, NY-26 and Janice Hahn, CA-36.
- Democrats argue Romney bought “his way to victory” in Florida: DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s statement on Mitt Romney’s Florida victory argues that his campaign and his pro-Romney super PAC bought the election: “Romney and his Super PAC outspent his nearest opponent by running 13,000 ads to Newt Gingrich’s 200, carpet- bombing the airwaves with negative ads. In fact, Romney’s campaign has already spent more on negative ads than John McCain did during his entire presidential run.”
- Poll shows Romney faltering in Ohio and Missouri: Mitt Romney just won a big victory in Florida, but a Public Policy Polling survey out Tuesday shows him struggling in Ohio and Missouri — both states with looming primaries. The poll shows Gingrich beating Romney by 1 percentage point in Ohio and 11 in Missouri; Rick Santorum actually beats Romney by 13 percentage points.
- DNC holds press call on Romney in Nevada: DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Nevada State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford will hold a press conference call on Wednesday to “welcome Mitt Romney to Nevada.” Nevada suffers from one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation, so you can bet Romney’s comment from last summer, that we should allow home prices to hit rock bottom, will be mentioned on the call.
- Santorum releases new ad “Deal” attacking Gingrich: Rick Santorum has a 1-minute TV ad up in Nevada and Colorado going after Newt Gingrich for having supported policies like cap-and-trade and the individual mandate which were pushed by Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. In keeping with the gambling theme of Nevada, the ad uses cards to compare Gingrich, Obama, and Pelosi.
- SEIU and Priorities USA Action expand Spanish-language campaign to Nevada: The service union SEIU and pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action will hold a press conference call Wednesday to announce a new ad and the expansion of the current Spanish language ad campaign into Nevada and Colorado. Previously, they released Spanish-language ads in Florida on Mitt Romney’s far-right position on immigration. Colorado and particularly Nevada have significant Latino populations.
- Candidates campaign in 3 different states: Newt Gingrich will hold a rally in Reno; Ron Paul will also be in Nevada; Rick Santorum will be in Colorado; and Mitt Romney will be in Minnesota, where Democrats will welcome him with a press conference outside his rally.
- Tester outraised Rehberg in 4th quarter: Montana Sen. Jon Tester’s re-election campaign raised raised nearly $1.2 million during the final quarter of 2011. Tuesday, his Republican challenger Denny Rehberg announced he had raised $656,000 — half as much as Tester — in the 4th quarter and has $2.1 million cash on hand.
- Rep. Allen West switches districts: After redistricting, Florida’s new map put Tea Party favorite Allen West in the state’s new heavily Democratic 22nd district. Tuesday, West announced that he will now switch to the new 18th district. He leaves behind a district that will likely flip Democratic. His switch also does not guarantee a win in the new district.
