Kirk Jowers, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics and a Romney supporter, said Utahns shouldn't be discouraged by Romney's performance in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"If anything it should energize Utahns who support Mitt to jump in even harder. He's a serious contender," Jowers said. "Now is the time to support him and help him prevail in Michigan."

Jowers predicted Michigan will be another "dogfight" between Romney and McCain, but, he said, Romney is the only candidate who is competitive in multiple states.

"McCain is going to try to turn this victory into momentum, but he is still starting behind Romney," Jowers said.

Johnson said Romney could come back in Michigan, where his father was governor. But then Romney's road gets much tougher as he must battle former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa Caucus, and former southern Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., in South Carolina. After that he'll contest Florida against former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has designated the Sunshine State state a must win in his overall election strategy.

Tuesday's results garnered Romney four delegate votes, raising his total delegate count to 30; McCain rose to 10 delegates in all and Huckabee to 21. To become the GOP nominee, a candidate needs 1,191 delegates.

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Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche

E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com

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