Romney takes big early lead in Nevada voting

Republican front-runner Mitt Romney appeared headed to an easy win in Nevada on Saturday that would put him in firm command of the party's see-sawing presidential nominating race.

Early vote results reported by CNN showed Romney grabbing a big lead. With 3 percent of precincts counted, Romney had 52 percent, well ahead of US Representative Ron Paul's 20 percent. Former US House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich was in third with 19 percent and former US Senator Rick Santorum was last with 9 percent.

A Nevada victory would be Romney's second win in a row and his third in the first five contests in the state-by-state battle to find a Republican challenger to President Barack Obama in November's general election.

Two polls taken this week in Nevada showed the former Massachusetts governor with a lead of at least 20 points or more over Gingrich after recapturing his front-runner status with a convincing win in Florida on Tuesday.

The caucus sessions began at many of the 125 sites around Nevada on Saturday morning, although final results were not expected until after 7 pm PST. A final caucus gathering to accommodate Jews observing the Sabbath on Saturday will begin in Las Vegas at that time.

Nevada, which has a faltering economy and a big Mormon population, is friendly territory for Romney, a Mormon and former head of a private equity firm. He captured 51 percent of the vote in 2008 to win the state during his failed 2008 presidential bid.

He has stressed his business background as a cure for the ailing economy in Nevada, which has the country's highest state unemployment rate, 12.6 percent in December, and the highest home foreclosure rate.

"This has been a tough three years," Romney told supporters in Henderson, Nevada, outside Las Vegas, on Friday night at his last campaign stop before the vote. "It's time now for Barack Obama to get out of the way."

Romney hopes Nevada's caucuses will launch a February winning streak that could position him for a knockout blow to Gingrich during the 10 "Super Tuesday" contests on March 6 - or sooner.

Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri will have nominating contests on Tuesday. Maine will wrap up its weeklong caucuses next Saturday, and Arizona and Michigan hold February 28 contests.

Romney won Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, Maine and Michigan in 2008. He came in second in Arizona to native son and eventual nominee John McCain, an Arizona senator, and he finished third in Missouri.