Romney Wins Texas Republican Primary And Goes Legit

Mitt Romney won the Texas Republican Primary and became the official 2012 GOP presidential nominee Tuesday night, according to reports.

Based on the Associated Press' projected delegate count, Romney won more than the 88 delegates he needed to remove the word presumptive from his description as this year's Republican presidential nominee.

With tonight's projected victory, Romney earned more than 1148 delegates, the minimum number necessary to gain his party's nod this summer in Tampa, where his nomination will become official at the 2012 Republican National Convention, Politico reported.

I am honored that Americans across the country have given their support to my candidacy and I am humbled to have won enough delegates to become the Republican Party's 2012 presidential nominee, Romney said in a statement, according to the Huffington Post.

Also on Tuesday night, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst led Ted Cruz, the state's solicitor general, and Tom Leppert, the mayor of Dallas, in the Republican primary election to replace departing GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, based on early returns.