Romney Wins D.C. Primary

Governor Mitt Romney will take home 16 delegates tonight after coasting to victory in the District of Columbia's winner-take--all Republican primary, NBC News has projected.

Romney didn’t face much of a fight in the nation’s capital, where chief rival Rick Santorum didn’t even manage to make it onto the ballot, although former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has drastically scaled back his campaign recently, and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, were.

D.C. Republicans make up only 6 percent of all registered voters in the district, and they tend to be businessmen, lobbyists and other political professionals who are major contributors to Romney’s formidable fundraising machine.

Before Tuesday’s contests, the former Massachusetts governor had 572 delegates, exactly half of the 1,144 he needs to secure the nomination, while Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, had 272.