Romney wins Republican vote in Washington state

SEATTLE, Sunday

Mitt Romney picked up another victory in the race for the Republican presidential nomination late Saturday as he confidently carried his party's caucuses in the northwestern state of Washington.

Romney declared victory in the contest after returns showed him far ahead of former senator Rick Santorum and Texas congressman Ron Paul, who vied for second place.

With 80 percent of the ballots counted, Romney was ahead with 36 percent of the vote, Paul ran a distant second with 25 percent while Santorum was close behind with 24.6 percent.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich was fourth with just 10.9 percent of the ballot.

"I'm heartened to have won the Washington caucuses, and I thank the voters for their support," Romney said after most of the precincts had reported. "Every day that passes with Barack Obama in the White House is a day in which America's recovery from the economic crisis is delayed."

Party officials said there was record turnout for the caucuses, the latest state-by-state race to pick the Republican party's candidate to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama in November.

The candidates now head into Super Tuesday, next week's crucial contest in 10 states.

Romney and Santorum are seeking to harness momentum going into next week's balloting in Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia, Alaska, Idaho and North Dakota.

Romney held a brief rally on Saturday morning before leaving Washington state, which borders Canada.

Voters flocked to Saturday's caucuses, enthused that Washington state, which is usually little more than an afterthought in an election year, was attracting attention due to the tight race.

Kirby Wilbur, the state's Republican party chairman, said 21,000 voters had cast ballots and some counties had yet to return their results.