After Nevada Win, Romney Looks To Fla.

Mitt Romney learned he won Saturday's barely contested Nevada caucuses on his Florida-bound campaign plane.

"I have an announcement," his wife, Ann, announced from the aircraft's public-address system some 18 minutes into an in-flight news conference with reporters about an economic stimulus bill Romney was unveiling.

"No, not a good time for the PA system," Romney said as he waved, unaware who was speaking.

His wife nonetheless continued, saying, "I have an announcement: Fox News has officially called the race in Nevada for Mitt Romney."

As a cheer went up from campaign staffers, Romney smiled and said: "That is a good announcement. Got any more good ones? Keep 'em coming, keep 'em coming."

The former Massachusetts governor had left Las Vegas as votes were counted in caucuses that drew relatively little candidate interest.

Romney was gaining more than half the vote in Nevada, leaving Arizona Sen. John McCain and Texas Rep. Ron Paul in a close race for a distant second place.

On his plane, Romney said he hoped the win was the first of several in the coming days. He also said it underscored the national nature of his campaign.

"I'm not looking just to get a couple high-profile victories; I want to get delegates and I want to win this nomination," Romney declared.

Looking ahead to Florida, which votes Jan. 29, Romney saw a wide-open battle. He plans to campaign heavily in the state during the coming week, before assessing his progress and deciding how much time to devote to early work in the 24 states voting Feb. 5.

"Maybe after a win in Nevada and the results in South Carolina, there may be some separation or some people may decide to put more into it or take something out of it, but right now, it looks like how Florida goes is anybody's guess," he said.

As he flew, aides issued a statement in which he said Republicans had cast their votes for change - and that he was the man to provide it.

"With a career spent turning around businesses, creating jobs and imposing fiscal discipline, I am ready to get my hands on Washington and turn it inside out," he said in a statement.

Once on the ground in Jacksonville, Romney dismissed claims that he only won in Michigan because he was born there and his father was a three-term governor, noting that he hadn't lived in the state in 41 years.

Similarly, he said his Nevada win wasn't contingent on disproportional turnout among voters who share his Mormon faith.

"I think it was pointed out ot me that I won in Nevada among evangelicals as well according to the exit polls," he said. "If no members of my faith had turned out at all, I still would have won."

Romney had little to say about South Carolina, putting all his focus on Florida.

"I'd love to win in Florida, of course. It's a very big state with a lot of delegates and I care very much about Florida," he said. "We're all neck and neck in Florida from what I near and you're going to see a lot of campaigning going on in the next several days."