McCain, Clinton win Florida primaries

Senator John McCain and his wife Cindy greet supporters in Miami following his victory in the Florida Republican presidential primary on Tuesday. PHOTO: AFP

Senator John McCain won a breakthrough triumph in the Florida primary, seizing the upper hand in the Republican presidential race ahead of next week's coast-to-coast contests and lining up a quick endorsement from soon-to-be dropout Rudy Giuliani.

McCain eased past chief rival Mitt Romney on Tuesday night following a tough battle in which the two traded accusations and insults. McCain has now emerged as the clear front-runner going into the Feb. 5 national contests that could decide the party's White House nominee.

"We have a ways to go, but we're getting close" to the nomination, McCain said in an appearance before cheering supporters.

Former New York mayor Giuliani ran third. It was Giuliani's best showing of the campaign, but not nearly good enough for the one-time front-runner who decided to make his last stand in a state that is home to tens of thousands of transplanted New Yorkers.

Republican officials said that Giuliani was expected to endorse McCain later yesterday in California. They spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the public announcement.

Romney, who has spent millions of dollars of his personal fortune to run for the White House, vowed to stay in the race.

The Republican candidates were all headed to California for a debate last night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Democratic primary, an event that drew no campaigning by any of the contenders -- and awarded no delegates to the winner because of a dispute between the state and national parties over the date of the primary.

Even so, Clinton sought to emphasize her performance in the state, holding a victory rally as the polls were closing. Nearly complete returns showed Clinton with 50 percent, followed by Senator Barack Obama with 33 percent and former senator John Edwards with 14 percent.

Edwards was to announce his exit from the presidential race yesterday.

He notified a close circle of senior advisers that he planned to make the announcement at a 1pm event in New Orleans that had been billed as a speech on poverty, two of his advisers said.

The Florida victory was worth 57 Republican National Convention delegates for McCain, a winner-take-all haul that catapulted him ahead of Romney for the overall delegate lead. More than 1,000 Republican delegates will be awarded on Feb. 5 in 21 primaries and caucuses.

A total of 1,191 delegates are needed to secure the nomination at this summer's Republican national convention.

"It shows one thing. I'm the conservative leader who can unite the party," McCain said in a brief interview.

The veteran Arizona senator and former Vietnam prisoner-of-war has long been considered too much of a maverick by many of the Republican Party's core conservative base.

In remarks to supporters in Orlando, Giuliani referred to his candidacy repeatedly in the past tense -- as though it were over. He had staked his White House bid on the Florida primary, ceding earlier contests to the other candidates.

"I'm proud that we chose to stay positive and to run a campaign of ideas in an era of personal attacks, negative ads and cynical spin," he said. "You don't always win, but you can always try to do it right, and you did."

Returns from 99 percent of the state's precincts showed McCain with 36 percent of the vote and Romney with 31 percent. Giuliani trailed with 15 percent. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee finished fourth with 13 percent.