Romney Wins New Hampshire Presidential Primary

CONCORD, New Hampshire (AP) — Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary Tuesday, a major step toward cementing his position as the party’s choice to run against President Barack Obama in November.

With a sizable win in New Hampshire on the heels of his narrow victory last week in the Iowa caucuses, Romney has strong momentum going into the crucial — and likely more difficult — South Carolina primary on Jan. 21.

Returns from 21 percent of the state’s precincts showed Romney with 35 percent of the vote. His victory was expected; Romney is the former governor of the neighboring state of Massachusetts, has a vacation home in New Hampshire and is a frequent visitor to the state.

With little hope of winning, his rivals were vying for a strong second-place finish as they attempted to establish themselves as the main alternative to Romney.

Texas congressman Ron Paul, with 25 percent, trailed Romney with former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman in third place with 17 percent. Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum both had 10 percent.

Paul is considered a longshot to overtake Romney. He has a loyal core of supporters drawn to his libertarian, small-government message, but his calls for military cuts, withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and legalizing drugs puts him at odds with many Republicans.

Huntsman, Obama’s first ambassador to China, skipped Iowa and has campaigned in New Hampshire more than any other candidate. He is at the bottom of national polls and needed a strong showing for his campaign to continue.

Santorum, who draws support from social conservatives, failed to build on his near-victory in Iowa, where he fell just eight votes short of Romney.

Gingrich also did not rebound in New Hampshire after his once-soaring candidacy plummeted in Iowa, where he finished fourth after being targeted by a barrage of negative television ads by Romney supporters.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry was also on the ballot, but effectively conceded New Hampshire. He considered quitting the race after finishing fifth in Iowa, but hopes to revive his candidacy in South Carolina.

Santorum and Gingrich also hope to find more fertile territory in South Carolina, which is the first southern state to hold a primary.

But the crowded field has benefited Romney, dividing up the votes of Republicans who are wary of his candidacy. While the Republican establishment has largely rallied behind Romney, who is seen as having the best chance of defeating Obama, he has been unable to win more than 25 percent to 30 percent in national opinion polls. Some Republicans have questioned his conservative credentials and are uneasy with his Mormon faith.

Republicans see a strong opportunity to defeat Obama, who has struggled with stubbornly high unemployment since taking office in 2009. Romney has said his business experience heading a venture capitalist firm gives him the experience to turn around the U.S. economy.

“Tonight we celebrate,” Romney told his supporters. “Tomorrow we go back to work.”

Romney’s rivals have cast him as a millionaire who is out-of-touch with the American public and whose business experience has been more about cutting jobs than creating him.

Gingrich said Romney’s former firm, Bain Capital, “apparently looted the companies, left people totally unemployed and walked off with millions of dollars.”

Romney did not help himself with recent gaffes. On Sunday, he made the unlikely comment that he understood the fear of being laid off. “There were a couple of times when I was worried I was going to get pink-slipped,” he said, although neither he nor his aides offered specifics.

And on Monday, while discussing health insurance coverage, he said, “I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. If someone doesn’t give me the good service I need, I’m going to go get somebody else to provide that service to me.”

None of that impeded Romney in New Hampshire. Romney’s victory there made him the first Republican to sweep the first two contests in a competitive race since Iowa gained the leadoff spot in presidential campaigns in 1976.

South Carolina, with its more conservative electorate, including a large bloc of evangelical Christians, will likely be more difficult for Romney. He finished fourth there in 2008. Unemployment is also a bigger issue in South Carolina than it had been in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Still, a poll last week showed Romney leading. A win in South Carolina, following victories in Iowa and, presumably, New Hampshire, would make Romney very difficult to stop.

The Republican nominee will ultimately be determined by a state-by-state tally of delegates at the Republican National Convention in August. Twelve delegates were at stake on Tuesday in New Hampshire, out of 1,144 needed to win the nomination.

Obama ran unopposed and won the Democratic primary.

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Associated Press writers Steve Peoples, Philip Elliott, Shannon McCaffrey, Kasie Hunt, Beth Fouhy and Holly Ramer in New Hampshire, Brian Bakst in South Carolina and Connie Cass and David Espo in Washington contributed to this report.