Arizona Senator John McCain has defeated former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, according to the Florida Primary polls results, to win the Florida presidential primary election and propel his candidacy to next week's multi-state set of primaries known as Super Tuesday.
With more than two-thirds of the votes counted, McCain leads Romney 36 percent to 31 percent.
Romney congratulated McCain in a speech to supporters late Tuesday.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who staked much of his campaign on Florida, is in a distant third place, just ahead of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
Giuliani and Huckabee both congratulated McCain in concession speeches Tuesday evening. Media reports say aides in Giuliani's campaign are in discussions with McCain's advisers on a possible endorsement this week.
Huckabee, who won the Iowa contest, said he was not discouraged by the Florida results, and would remain in the race.
On the Democratic side, New York Senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton handily won her party's contest over Illinois Senator Barack Obama. John Edwards placed a distant third. But the results are not expected to mean much at the national nominating convention, because the Democratic Party stripped Florida of its delegates as a penalty for moving up its primary election.
Clinton, speaking to her supporters in Florida, pledged to work to legitimize the state's delegates.
Obama won the South Carolina Democratic primary last Saturday, with Clinton finishing a distant second.
The results of the Florida Primary Pools are considered a critical test ahead of February 5 - known as "Super Tuesday" - when more than 20 states hold primaries or caucuses for Republicans and Democrats who want to be on the ballot in November's presidential election. - By VOA News
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