Ann Romney calls on GOP to unite behind Mitt

[March 19, 2012]  VERNON HILLS (AP) -- Mitt Romney's wife said Sunday that now is the time for Republicans to unite behind one presidential nominee.

Ann Romney stood at her husband's side Sunday night at a rally in suburban Chicago and offered the campaign's most aggressive plea yet for Republicans to end their extended nomination fight.

"We need to send a message that it's time to coalesce," Ann Romney said. "It's time to come together. It's time to get behind one candidate and get the job done so we can move on to the next challenge, bringing us one step closer to defeating Barack Obama."

The comments came moments after Mitt Romney announced he had won all 20 of Puerto Rico's delegates in the island's Sunday primary.

The Romney campaign hopes Illinois will prove to be a knockout punch against rival Rick Santorum. While some conservatives don't like Romney, he has accumulated more delegates than all his competitors combined.

Including Puerto Rico, the Associated Press projects that Romney has collected 521 delegates, compared to 253 for Santorum, 136 for Newt Gingrich and 50 for Ron Paul.

[Associated Press; By STEVE PEOPLES]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.