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BY DAVID ESPO AND STEVE PEOPLES Associated Press
Tuesday, Jan 31 2012 05:43 PM
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Mitt Romney routed Newt Gingrich in the Florida primary Tuesday night, rebounding from the previous week's defeat with a commanding victory and taking a major step toward the Republican presidential nomination. Despite the one-sided setback, 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.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich stormed to an upset victory in the South Carolina primary Saturday night, dealing a sharp setback to former front-runner Mitt Romney and suddenly scrambling the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Dredging up a past that Newt Gingrich has worked hard to bury, the GOP presidential candidate's second ex-wife says Gingrich asked for an "open marriage" in which he could have both a wife and a mistress.
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Tonight's Republican presidential debate on CNN will begin at 5 p.m. Pacific Time. The television grid in today's Californian erroneously listed the debate for 8 p.m.
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SACRAMENTO -- When President Barack Obama addresses Indian leaders, he waxes about the need for education and health care, and an honest government-to-government relationship. He doesn't mentions casinos.
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The direction, role and funding of Kern County Animal Control continues to be a challenge. Now some are asking whether the county (and city of Bakersfield, which uses the county service) would be best off simply outsourcing animal control services to one or more for-profit or nonprofit contractors.
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A local business manager and community volunteer said he plans to join the race for Kern County's 5th District
supervisor's seat.
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God, family, career. That's the order of Democratic state Sen. Michael Rubio's personal priorities, he said in a statement Tuesday.
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Announcements
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Over the past weeks and months, I have heard in meetings the chorus of valley farmers grow stronger in opposition to ill-advised immigration policies that could soon be considered by the House. Congress' failure to deal with our immigration problems is part of what's wrong with Washington. It is resulting in proposals that are not well thought out. If enacted, they would result in more problems for business, agriculture and the working people in our valley.
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Let the defrosting begin.
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By Chase Davis
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Opponents of a Kern County ordinance that would outlaw storefront medical marijuana cooperatives and the sale of edible pot products have blocked the law from taking effect.
