Mitt Romney attends private fundraiser in Vero Beach

The day before primaries in Mississippi and Alabama, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney took a quiet trip to Vero Beach for a private fundraiser.

 Romney visited Vero Beach on Monday and spoke to potential donors at a private fundraising noon event at the Quail Valley Country Club, said Tom Lockwood, the Chairman of the Republican Party of Indian River County. Romney also attended a fundraiser Monday at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach.

 ”It was a very successful event and needless to say, we were very privileged to have Mitt Romney here,” Lockwood said. “I know that a large amount of money was raised on his behalf, so he should have been pleased with that.”

 Lockwood said he was not involved in tallying contributions, and he did not have an estimate of how much money was raised. “But I know that the organizers that were involved were very pleased as he was.”

 Lockwood said people put in hard work to draw Romney to Vero Beach — work that paid off for both locals and Romney.

 ”Needless to say for a little county like Indian River, we don’t normally have that opportunity, so it was pretty exciting to have the caliber of Mitt Romney right here in Vero Beach,” Lockwood said.

 Lockwood, who had seen Romney in person before, said Romney gave a speech Monday and mingled with the crowd.

“He’s an impressive guy,” Lockwood said.

 Later that evening, conservative political commentator Ann Coulter visited Indian River County as part of a fundraiser for the Republican Executive Committee, Lockwood said.