Romney seals party nomination

Mitt Romney clinched his Republican party's White House nomination Tuesday by winning its Texas primary, vowing to get America "back on the path to prosperity" by defeating Barack Obama in November.
But the milestone was clouded by a rehashed controversy over claims by billionaire tycoon Donald Trump, a high-profile Romney supporter, questioning President Obama's birthplace.
"#1144. Thank You. Whatever challenges lie ahead, we will settle for nothing less than getting America back on the path to prosperity," Romney tweeted, referring to the number of delegates required to win his party's nomination.
The former Massachusetts governor, the only candidate who actively campaigned in Texas, won 71 percent of the vote, according to Fox News, CNN and NBC television.
US congressman from Texas Ron Paul won 10 percent in his home state, Catholic conservative Rick Santorum 7 percent and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich 5 percent, according to CNN.
In Texas 155 delegates were at stake -- which added to Romney's tally of 1,064 should take him well over the 1,144 nomination threshold, according to the website RealClearPolitics.
In nominating a multimillionaire former businessman, the Republican Party is in familiar territory, but in one key respect Romney is making history, as the nation's first-ever Mormon nominee of a major political party.
The Republican base has long been dominated by evangelical Christians, and Romney's faith has occasionally come under scrutiny by some religious leaders.
But Romney is counting on Americans seeing him as the pragmatic problem solver with the business credentials to turn the economy around better than Obama has.
Romney, 65, pivoted toward Obama in his campaign speeches and events more than a month ago, when it became clear his long march toward the nomination at the party convention in August would not be stopped.
But it was a brutal primary season. Rivals like Gingrich and Santorum humbled Romney by stealing some victories, rallying voters to their more conservative agenda and highlighting his flipflops on key issues such as abortion.
Polls show a steadily tightening White House race, with Republicans coalescing behind Romney in the weeks since Gingrich and Santorum dropped out.