FULL STORY: City picks Romney by wide margin

Voters in the 27 city of Sarasota precincts overwhelmingly chose former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Tuesday as their Republican candidate for president, reflecting Sarasota County and Florida Republican voters.

City residents cast 2,650 votes for Romney, compared to 1,245 votes for former Speaker of the U.S. House Newt Gingrich.

Romney was named the winner of the Florida Republican Presidential Primary.

In Sarasota County, 45.5% of the county’s 122,338 registered Republican voters cast a ballot, just shy of the 50% turnout Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Office Kathy Dent had predicted.

Romney received 28,319 of those votes, or 50.8%, compared to Gingrich’s 15,151 votes, or 27.2%.

Statewide, Romney had 46% of the vote compared to Gingrich’s 32%. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, of Pennsylvania, had 13%, and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, of Texas, had 7%.

“Turnout was excellent,” said Sarasota County Republican Chairman Joe Gruters. “People were excited for the day to finally be here and made their voices heard.”

Romney won 50 Republican National Convention delegates with his Florida victory — the largest delegate total of any state that has held a primary so far. The Republican nominee needs a total of 1,144 delegates to attain the nomination.

Click here to view the City Election results.