Florida voters cast their ballots today in a contest that could anoint a front-runner among Republicans in the White House race and spell trouble for onetime favorite former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani staked his campaign on a strong showing in Florida after largely ignoring other states that kicked off the party nominating process to determine candidates for the November US presidential election.
But polls have shown Giuliani trailing both nationally and in this state with a large population of retired New Yorkers as rivals John McCain and Mitt Romney picked up momentum from wins in states that voted earlier this month.
At a delicatessen in a Miami suburb on Tuesday morning, Giuliani talked optimistically about moving on to other states after the Florida contest.
"We are going to win today," he said flatly. "Polls and predictions have been wrong."
Voting is scheduled to wrap up at 7pm EST (midnight
Irish time) in most of Florida and an hour later in the northwestern part of the state. Results usually emerge soon after. More than a half million absentee and early-voting ballots have already been cast, one factor that could help Giuliani.
A Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released early today showed McCain, an Arizona senator, with a slim 35 per cent to 31 per cent lead over Romney, a former Massachusetts governor. Giuliani and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee were tied for third place with 13 per cent each.
McCain and Romney have dominated the headlines in Florida with a heated battle over who is best prepared to rescue a struggling economy and lead a country that is at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. McCain has made gains since his endorsement on Saturday by Florida governor Charlie Crist.
No Republican has been able to grab the front-runner's role in a seesawing Republican race to represent the party in November's presidential election.
Mr McCain and Mr Romney have split the last four nominating contests, as Mr McCain won in South Carolina and New Hampshire and Mr Romney in Michigan and Nevada. Mr Huckabee earlier won the kick-off contest in Iowa.