TAMPA, Fla. (January 31, 2012)—Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won a commanding victory Tuesday in the Florida Republican primary, rebounding from defeat a week earlier and taking a major step toward the GOP presidential nomination, but despite the one-sided result, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich vowed to press on.

"Thank you FL!" an exuberant Romney tweeted minutes after the race was called. "While we celebrate this victory, we must not forget what this election is really about: defeating Barack Obama."

Returns from slightly more than half of Florida's precincts showed Romney with 47 percent of the vote, to 33 percent for Gingrich.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum had 13 percent, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul 7 percent.

Neither mounted a substantial effort in the state.

The winner-take-all primary was worth 50 Republican National Convention delegates, by far the most of any primary state so far, but the bigger prize was precious political momentum in the race to pick an opponent for Democratic President Barack Obama this fall

That belonged to Romney when he captured the New Hampshire primary three weeks ago, and then swung stunningly to Gingrich when he countered with an upset 11 days later in South Carolina.

Romney staged a 10-day comeback in which he shifted to more aggressive tactics, coupled with an efficient use of an overwhelming financial advantage.