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8:40 p.m. | Updated VERNON HILLS, Ill. — Mitt Romney was the winner of the Republican presidential primary Sunday in Puerto Rico, giving him a victory that he is aggressively working to repeat here in the Illinois primary on Tuesday.
As the Republican race deepens into a fight for every delegate, the Romney campaign pointed to Puerto Rico as the latest sign of strength over Rick Santorum. Mr. Romney was defeating Mr. Santorum by a wide margin in the United States territory, which has 20 delegates, with The Associated Press saying Mr. Romney was likely to take all of them.
But the Republican rivals had their sights squarely set on Illinois, where 69 delegates were at stake on Tuesday. “It’s a territory of about 4 million people,” Mr. Romney said, speaking to an evening rally here. “They’re not some little island. It’s 4 million people! It would be the 25th largest state in the country.” The race was far tighter here, party strategists said, and Mr. Romney scrapped a brief island respite to return to campaign across the state on Sunday.
Mr. Romney hailed the outcome of the Puerto Rico primary as “darn good news.” He suggested it was an indication that the Republican Party could win over the critical key Hispanic electorate.
“Those people who think Latinos won’t vote for a Republican need to talk to the people of Puerto Rico,” Mr. Romney said, not mentioning the vast differences among Latino voters. “I intend to get Latino voters to vote Republican and take back the White House.”
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