To The Center

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is likely to continue his momentum gained thanks to this week’s decisive victory over former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the Florida primary. Romney is expected to win the Nevada caucus, which takes place Saturday.

According to CBS News, Romney is heavily favored partly because of his religion. Although Gallup reports that just 5.6 percent of the state’s adult population is Mormon, they are mostly Republican and are more likely to vote than the average Nevadan.

The Christian Science Monitor adds that Romney’s Mormon faith may have caused him to lose as much as 10 percent of the vote in South Carolina and Iowa, two states that he lost.

As The New York Times notes, Romney also overwhelmingly won the state’s caucus in 2008, capturing 51.1 percent of the vote. Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who is also running again, came in a distant second with just 13.7 percent. CBS News notes that Paul is the only real competitor for Romney this time, but he is not likely to beat Gingrich for second place. In a Las Vegas Review-Journal poll, 45 percent of those polled support Romney, with 25 percent supporting Gingrich. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum comes in third with 11 percent. Paul received support from just 9 percent of those polled.

Even if Gingrich loses Nevada, he is still going to continue campaigning. According to The Associated Press, he told Fox News, “I think our hope is that we may be able to come in second, although Ron Paul is very organized…We’re going all out to see if we can’t be a good solid second here, and then we’re on to Colorado and Minnesota.”

According to the NY Times, unlike Florida’s winner-take-all system, Gingrich will still receive some of Nevada’s 28 delegates. After Nevada, the Colorado and Minnesota caucuses take place on Feb. 7. The Maine caucus runs from Feb. 4 to 11 and following that, there are weeks before the primaries in Arizona and Michigan on Feb. 28.