Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has easily won the Washington state Republican caucuses, giving his campaign momentum heading into next week's so-called "Super Tuesday" contests in 10 U.S. states.
With most of the votes counted from Saturday's caucus, Romney had about 37 percent support in the straw poll. Texas Representative Ron Paul held 25 percent of the vote to edge former U.S. senator Rick Santorum's 24 percent support. Former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich came in a distant fourth.
Romney thanked voters for their support in his postings on Twitter and Facebook.
The caucus comes ahead of the "Super Tuesday" voting that will go a long way toward determining who will face President Barack Obama - a Democrat - in November's election.
In the latest Republican national poll by Gallup, Romney has 35 percent support, while Santorum has 24 percent. Gingrich and Paul trail with 15 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
