BELMONT, Massachusetts — Mitt Romney cast his vote in Massachusetts on the biggest day yet in the 2012 presidential campaign, as he hoped to take a leap toward securing the Republican nomination.
Romney and his wife, Ann Romney, wrapped up a marathon swing through several of the 10 states voting in Super Tuesday primaries or caucuses, including several campaign stops in the past two days in the key battleground of Ohio.
"Great to be back home," he told reporters and supporters in Belmont, a Boston suburb where he and Mrs. Romney entered a community center to vote.
"We're looking forward to sleeping in our own bed tonight and being with family."
A win for him is virtually assured in Massachusetts, where Romney has lived for decades and served as governor, and he is favored in two other New England states voting in the 10-state sweepstakes that could go far toward solidifying a frontrunner in the rollercoaster race to see who challenges President Barack Obama in November.
"I'm hoping for a good win here in Massachusetts, and what happens elsewhere I don't know, but I think we'll pick up a lot of delegates," Romney said.
"This is a process of gathering enough delegates to become the nominee, and I think we're on the track to have that happen."
But outcomes in several Super Tuesday states were cloudier, notably in the key battleground Ohio, the southern state of Tennessee and in Oklahoma, three states where Romney's arch-rival, religious conservative Rick Santorum, is looking to score upsets that could throw a wrench in Romney's surge.
Romney, who turns 65 next week, had told reporters on his plane Tuesday from Ohio to Massachusetts that he was looking forward to one of his sons cooking the couple a chicken marsala dinner and bringing it to their house Tuesday night.
He said he'll appreciate the short break from the volatile and exhausting campaign, one most experts say is expected to extend beyond Super Tuesday.
Ann Romney revealed to supporters at events in Ohio Monday that she hadn't spent the night in her own bed since early January.
"He knows a lot of people have been on since New Hampshire. It's been a long two months," senior campaign advisor Eric Fehrnstrom told reporters.
Romney acknowledged that he does not get nervous on primary days, and said he has no pre-vote "superstitions."
The Romneys cast their votes inside a quiet Beech Street senior center, where poll workers checked the couple's identification.
Ann Romney spent about two minutes at a booth. "You might guess who I might have voted for," she said after depositing her ballot.
Her husband then deposited his ballot and said: "See look at that. There we go. We're legal."
Americans in 10 states voted in key Super Tuesday contests with Romney seeking to lock down his party's backing to be the Republican Party's presidential nominee.
The former governor was aiming to build on his momentum after winning the last five state contests and deal a knockout blow to Santorum.
Delegates are awarded by each state in the complex Republican Party nominating process, with one candidate needing to reach 1,144 delegates to declare victory.
Romney, a former businessman who made his fortune as a venture capitalist, has pulled ahead in the early delegate count.
He has won contests in eight states, while Santorum has won four. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, 68, has won South Carolina and Georgia, while Texas congressman Ron Paul has still to notch his first win.
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