ST. PETERSBURG - Arizona Sen. John McCain won Florida's Republican primary Tuesday, but that didn't discourage Mitt Romney, who came in a close second place.
With 36 percent of the vote, McCain edged out former Massachusetts governor Romney, who had 31 percent.
Despite Romney's loss, the mood was anything but subdued at the Mirror Lake Lyceum here, where he spoke in a hall packed tight with his supporters.
They spent the evening standing elbow-to-elbow, waving signs and foam baseball "mitts" as they watched the election results on Fox News.
McCain's win earned him 57 delegates at the party's national convention. He will need 1,191 to earn the Republican nomination for president.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani came in third, followed by Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas.
Though Giuliani did not officially step down from the race, Republican officials reportedly said he will endorse McCain today in California.
For McCain, known for his moderate views, Florida was his first win in a state that does not allow independents to vote in primaries.
"It shows one thing," he said. "I'm the conservative leader who can unite the party."
McCain had received endorsements from Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Sen. Mel Martinez as well as UF President Bernie Machen. While McCain called the win a "significant boost," he said he expected the coming week to be a challenge.
"Our victory might not have reached landslide proportions, but it was sweet nonetheless," he said.
Here, Romney fans stomped and screamed as he took the stage with his wife and sons to announce that he would continue to campaign for Feb. 5, or Super Tuesday, when 22 primaries will be held around the country.
Nick Hansen, the Romney campaign's Tampa Bay field coordinator, said he was actually pleased with the results.
"To come out against a guy who's a war hero and well-known and has run before, to come up just short is pretty amazing," he said. When he started on the Romney campaign, Hansen said, the governor had only a 4 percent recognition rate in Florida.
Super Tuesday will be the campaign's next big challenge, he said.
Karen Zmoos, who has volunteered with the campaign for the past seven months, said she was still hopeful after the loss.
"Now that a few more have dropped out of the race, it increases Romney's chances," Zmoos said, assuming that Giuliani and Huckabee were no longer contenders.
She traveled from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to be in Florida for the primary, "due to the sadness of losing in Iowa, which caused me to curl up in a ball of depression," she said.
She brought with her a Mitt Romney bobble-head doll, which she said Romney had given to her in thanks for her help on the campaign.
Entire families turned out to the rally, such as Judy and Waymon Meadows, whose daughter, Jana Sewnarine, held her two-month-old baby above her head as she cheered.
Robert Acha, 21, came from Spring Hill with his father and 15-year-old sister.
Acha said the three had encouraged family members in Michigan to vote for Romney in that primary, which he won Jan. 15.
"We called all the grandparents and everyone to tell them what Mitt means to us," he said.
Elizabeth Akerman, a UF political science junior, came to the rally with UF's Bob Graham Center for Public Service as a learning experience, though she is a registered independent.
"It's a whole different side of the political process," she said. "It's a lot different than signs in Turlington."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
