Romney wins in Connecticut

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HARTFORD, Conn., April 24 (UPI) -- Mitt Romney moved closer to the Republican nomination for president Tuesday night with a primary win in Connecticut, early election returns showed.

With 11 percent of precincts reporting, CNN and NBC gave the former Massachusetts governor the win with 68 percent of the vote, to 13 percent for Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and 10 percent for Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker from Georgia.

Romney went into the day's primaries with 695 delegates, CNN said. Gingrich had 141 and Paul 72. Romney needs 1,144 to secure the GOP nomination.

Besides Connecticut, where 28 delegates were up for grabs, voters were also casting primary ballots in New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Delaware. Romney was expected to cruise to victory since his closest rival, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, pulled out of the presidential race April 10.