Mitt Romney's staff rushed to assure reporters after his victory in the Nevada Caucus tonight that he would have won it even without his core demographic base -- though he was buoyed by the state's large Mormon voting bloc.
Exit polls show that LDS voters made up 1-in-4 Republican caucus-goers, and about 90 percent voted for Romney. But the Romney campaign points out that he would have won the state handily — even if Romney's Mormon supporters stayed home.
Below is the release from the campaign:
Just like Florida, Nevada’s exit polls showed a very broad victory for Mitt Romney.
Mitt Romney won among conservatives, Tea Party members, women, men, low income, high income, etc.
Mitt Romney won a majority of “very conservative” voters (51%). He defeated Newt Gingrich (40-31%) among strong Tea Party voters. He won 48% of the vote among evangelicals (48 – 27%) over Newt Gingrich.
Like Florida, Mitt Romney won handily among voters who said electability was the most important quality in a candidate.
Like Florida, Mitt Romney won handily among voters who said the economy is the top issue.
LDS voters make up 26% of the caucus votes. Even without the LDS votes, Mitt Romney still would have won decisively (by 17 points).
While Mitt Romney won a majority of the LDS vote, he won among Protestants, Catholics and everybody else by wide margins.