It's an early call:
The CNN projection was based on unofficial returns and exit polling that showed Romney with a double-digit lead over his closest challenger, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. With 51% of the unofficial count, Romney had 48% of the vote compared to 31% for Gingrich, 13% for former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and 7% for Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
Final polls closed at 8 p.m. ET, and the early trend for Romney — buoyed by strong support among more than 632,000 voters who cast absentee or early ballots — indicated a solid victory to blunt any momentum Gingrich gained from last week's victory in South Carolina.
