WASHINGTON (CNN) - After a spirited week of campaigning and debating in South Carolina, all eyes are now on Florida as the GOP presidential candidates prepare for the January 31 primary in the pivotal state.
Also this week, Mitt Romney will release his 2010 tax return and an estimate of his 2011 tax liability, the former Massachusetts governor said.
The comment, made in an interview on "Fox News Sunday," was a big change in Romney's plans for handling an issue that dogged his campaign last week, and followed Saturday's loss to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the South Carolina primary.
Last week, Romney told reporters he would release his tax returns in April and estimated his actual tax rate was close to 15% -- the amount charged for capital gains income -- because most of his income was from investments.
On Sunday, he acknowledged that strategy didn't work in response to reporters and rival candidates questioning when Romney -- a multimillionaire -- would make public his tax details.
"I think we just made a mistake in holding off as long as we did. It was just a distraction," Romney said.
"I was planning on releasing them in April when they've been released by other candidates in the past," he said. "But you know what, given all the attention that has been focused on tax returns, given the distraction that I think they became in the last couple of weeks ... I will release my tax returns for 2010, which is the last returns that were completed."
Romney added that the tax return, as well as the 2011 estimate, would be posted on the campaign website Tuesday so that "people can take a good look at it."
Gingrich, who has raised the issue repeatedly, commended Romney when told during an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" of the announcement.
"I think it's exactly the right thing to do," Gingrich said. "And as far as I'm concerned, that particular issue is now set aside and we can go on and talk about other, bigger, and more important things."
Democrats also have called for Romney to release his tax returns, hoping it will bolster their efforts to portray him as a wealthy financier out of touch with working Americans.
By succumbing to the growing pressure to release tax return details now, Romney acknowledged the issue hurt his once-soaring campaign as the nominating process shifts to the Florida primary on January 31.
A race that seemed headed toward a quick nomination for Romney went through a volatile week that changed the political equation for the four remaining Republican candidates vying to run against President Barack Obama in November.
Initially announced the victor in the January 3 Iowa caucuses by eight votes over former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Romney learned Thursday that certified results showed Santorum actually won the state by 34 votes.
Then came Gingrich's solid victory Saturday in South Carolina in a race that Romney had led until his uncertain handling of the tax return issue on the campaign trail and in Thursday's debate.
Asked at the debate by moderator John King of CNN if he would follow his father's example and release tax returns for multiple years, Romney answered "maybe" and appeared uncomfortable discussing the issue all week.
Two of South Carolina's longest-serving elected officials attributed campaign mistakes by Romney for helping Gingrich run away with the state's first-in-the-South primary.
Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, a powerhouse in conservative politics, said on CNN's "State of the Union" that Romney bungled the tax return issue because "he wasn't definitive in his answer."
"He should have said immediately 'I'll do it in April,' or 'I'm not going to do it,' or 'I'm going to do it immediately.' But the fact that he wasn't clear, I think, is what hurt him," said DeMint, who endorsed Romney in 2008 but has yet to declare his support for anyone this time.
Democratic Rep. James Clyburn, who serves as the assistant minority leader in the House of Representatives, pinned Romney's loss on an inability to connect with South Carolina Republicans.
"Romney seemed not to be able to connect with his base; he really separated himself from the voters," Clyburn said. "It was very clear to me that he was cutting himself off. ... He was not doing well with identifying with ordinary voters. He doesn't seem to be able to do that."
Santorum, also on CNN, said the Republican race so far -- with three different candidates winning each of the first three states -- dealt a serious blow to any notion that Romney was certain to emerge as the Republican presidential nominee.
In particular, he said the victories by both himself and Gingrich showed that conservatives were flexing their muscles in the primary process.
"This idea that Mitt Romney is not going to be able to be defeated unless conservatives coalesce, well, it's objectively false," Santorum said.
Romney, meanwhile, aimed more fire at Gingrich -- portraying him as a Washington insider who lacked the necessary experience outside the U.S.
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