As expected, the television networks called the race for Mitt Romney at 8 pm ET, when all polls were closed.
Exit polls show electability and experience were the most important factors in choosing a candidate.
Top line exit poll results posted by the Drudge Report show Mitt Romney with 52%, followed by Newt Gingrich at 26%, Rick Santorum at 12% and Ron Paul at 8%. If those numbers hold up, it would be a crushing defeat for Gingrich.
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Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.