Given Romney’s polling lead in early-primary states and Giuliani’s advantages in Florida, McCollum believes Giuliani must win the Sunshine State.

“He never assumed he would win the early states,” said McCollum in an interview with The Hill. “The basic premise of the campaign is ‘We got to win Florida and we’re going to win Florida and then move on to Feb. 5.’ That’s why Florida has been the focus.”

The national party says it will strip Florida of half its delegates as punishment for advancing its primary to Jan. 29.

Even penalized, Florida will send 57 delegates to the GOP convention, more than any other early-primary state.

Realizing the state’s importance in the primary calculus, Romney made it a high priority early in the election. He quickly recruited many members of former Gov. Jeb Bush’s inner circle, such as Sally Bradshaw, Bush’s former campaign manager, and built a statewide infrastructure earlier than his opponents.