Romney’s Florida lead surges to double digits

Mitt Romney stormed Sunday toward a likely victory in Florida that would make him favourite for the Republican presidential nomination, but rival Newt Gingrich promised a bitter fight all the way to the August convention.

Two days before Floridians vote, polls showed Romney pulling clear in the Sunshine State after his campaign team went on the offensive, unleashing ads that painted Gingrich as unethical and not fit for office.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and millionaire venture capitalist considered the party establishment’s favourite, was leading Gingrich by 15 points in Florida, 42 per cent to 27 per cent, according to an Nbc/marist poll.

A new Miami Herald poll showed Gingrich behind by 11 points.

Hoping to finish off his rival, Romney renewed his assault before a crowd of several hundred supporters in an affluent Naples shopping centre.

“The reason that speaker Gingrich has been having a hard time in Florida is that people of Florida have watched the debates, have listened to the speaker, have listened to the other candidates and have said, ‘you know what, Mitt Romney’s the guy we’re going to support,’” he said.

Despite the polls, Gingrich said he expected a close race in Florida, which will be a key battleground in the November general election, pitting President Barack Obama, a Democrat, against the eventual Republican nominee.

After attending church services in this community north of Tampa, a fiery Gingrich insisted “the election will be substantially closer than the two polls” suggest.

With time running out for Gingrich to claw back lost ground in Florida, he turned to the national fight.

“Romney has got a very big challenge in trying to get a majority at the convention,” he said, predicting a “wild and woolly” campaign ahead.