TV channels declare Romney winner of Nevada US prez caucus

Washington, Feb 5(ANI): Former Massachusetts governor and the 2012 White House contender Mitt Romney secured his third victory of the GOP primary season, as television networks declared him the winner of Nevada's first-in-the-West presidential caucus.

Network entrance polling showed Romney won 57 percent of white voters, 57 percent of women voters and 53 percent of men voters.

Nevada has long been viewed as Romney's natural turf due to having a sizable Mormon population, Politico reports.

Mormon voters made up 26 percent of caucus-goers this weekend, according to entrance polling, and 91 percent of them voted for Romney.

This factor probably accounts for Romney's advantage among several groups who have opposed him in other states: very conservative voters and voters who support the Tea Party. Romney has won over both groups in Nevada, acoording to entrance polls.

The victory, which makes Romney the front-runner in the 2012 presidential race, comes after Romney worked to get his campaign back on track after he had said in an earlier CNN interview that he's "not concerned about the very poor."

With the Nevada caucus still in progress, the White House contenders are looking towards a string of other contests in February and beyond, which appeared likely to be more competitive than this weekend's Romney-friendly caucuses.

Maine's caucuses begin today and are occurring for one week, while Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota will hold their contests on February 7. (ANI)