Romney victorious in Florida

Supporters cheer as polls close and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, is called the winner of the Florida primary on Fox News.

Campaign staff members with Romney hand out letters spelling 'Mitt' to members of the audience at the candidate's Florida primary night party in Tampa, Florida

Romney gestures during his primary night party after defeating former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former US Senator Rick Santorum and US Representative Ron Paul.

Megan Metzger, of Tampa, FL, sells campaign buttons as Romney supporters arrive. After a decisive South Carolina win, Romney's main rival Gingrich has risen and fallen in the polls and now trails Romney by double digits.

People line up for a chance to meet Gingrich outside a polling place on primary day in Celebration, Florida. The former speaker said later in the day: "It is now clear that this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader Newt Gingrich and the Massachusetts moderate."

A supporter of Gingrich, who picked up the endorsement on Saturday night of former rival Herman Cain, attends his Florida primary night party in Orlando, Florida.

Gingrich and his wife Callista attend his Florida primary night party after being defeated by Mitt Romney. Polls had shown the race moving toward Romney in Florida for days.

Gingrich addresses supporters, vowing to fight on regardless of Tuesday's vote. Romney this week attacked Gingrich for his ties to the mortgage agency Freddie Mac and the collapse of the housing market - an open wound in Florida, where residential property values have plunged about 45 per cent since 2006.

Tuesday's vote came after a week of brutal campaigning that saw Romney and Gingrich exchange a barrage of negative and increasingly personal barbs.

Having moved on to the next contest, Ron Paul (R-TX) and his wife Carolyn arrive for a rally at the Green Valley Ranch Station Casino in Henderson, Nevada on January 31, 2012

Rick Santorum speaks at a town hall meeting at the Tea Party and Republicans Uniting Nevada Conservatives (TRUNC) office January 31, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada, in advance of the Nevada GOP caucus on February 4.

Santorum greets people as he leaves an election results party for the Florida primary at his Nevada campaign headquarters January 31, 2012 in Las Vegas.