Early results showed Romney holding dominating leads across much of the state. He appeared to swamp Gingrich, despite that exit poll data showed the electorate was dominated by conservative voters who support the Tea Party. Gingrich had pressed the same argument in Florida that had won him South Carolina: That Romney was not a true conservative.

But the key to Romney’s victory may be found in exit poll surveys that showed voters’ top priority was finding a candidate that could beat President Obama. Buoyed by millions in largely negative television advertising, Romney appears to have persuaded Florida voters he was more reliable bet to challenge Obama in November.

Romney will hope to use the victory in the large and diverse state to finally seal the deal with Republican voters who have been hesitant to embrace his candidacy. But Gingrich has vowed to press ahead. As polls closed, a large screen at his election night party in Orlando displayed the words “46 states to go,” a message designed to emphasize that the Republican race remains in it’s early stages.

Romney scored a decisive win in Florida’s primary Tuesday by regaining momentum on electability, according to exit poll surveys, neutralizing major weaknesses from previous contests and opening up a big advantage among female voters.

As in South Carolina, nearly half of all GOP voters in Florida said “beating Barack Obama” was the No. 1 thing they were looking for in a candidate, according to the network exit poll.

Only now, Romney won nearly 60 percent of these voters; in South Carolina, Gingrich had won a majority of those focused primarily on winning back the White House. Asked who is the most electable candidate, Romney beat Gingrich by 2 to 1.

As he has elsewhere, Romney racked up a large share of moderates and liberals, winning by more than 25 percentage points. He won by a similar margin among voters neutral or opposed to the tea party movement.

What’s different in Florida is Romney’s competitiveness with Newt Gingrich among evangelical Christians. Romney also stopped Gingrich from running up the massive margins he had in South Carolina among strong tea party supporters and the most conservative voters.

And Romney beat Gingrich by around single digits among those voters seeing the recent debates as important factors. Only 10 days ago in South Carolina, debate-focused voters helped Gingrich surge to victory by double-digits, with the former House speaker topping Romney by a gaping 27-point margin among those saying debates were an important factor.