Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Mitt Romney Wins New Hampshire Primary

CNN and Fox News are project Mitt Romney as the winner in New Hampshire. [Added 6:23pm: More from CNN.]

Updates forthcoming... [All times Pacific Standard Time.]

5:13pm: At New York Times, "Romney Wins G.O.P. Primary, Projections Show."

5:24pm: CNN's projecting Ron Paul as second place winner and Jon Huntsman in third. Mitt Romney's about to make his victory announcement.

5:32pm: At Los Angeles Times, "Romney gets easy win in first primary."

5:49pm: From AP, "Romney wins in NH, Ron Paul runs second" (via Memeorandum). And at Wall Street Journal, "Romney Wins New Hampshire Primary":
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, giving him significant momentum as he seeks to consolidate his claim to the Republican presidential nomination in coming weeks.

Mr. Romney had been expected to win the contest, since he was governor of neighboring Massachusetts and invested substantial time and money in the campaign. But his capture of about 36% of the vote in early returns, along with a narrow victory last week in Iowa, will make it harder for his rivals to slow his momentum.

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas was coming in a solid second with 25%, while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who bet his campaign on a strong performance in New Hampshire, was running third with 17%.

The campaign moves next to South Carolina, whose Jan. 21 primary could provide the last chance for another GOP hopeful to emerge as the chief conservative challenger to Mr. Romney.

The story of the campaign so far has been the inability of any of Mr. Romney's rivals to cement that role, leaving Mr. Romney as the front-runner even without being widely embraced by Republican voters.

That may create pressure on former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Gov. Rick Perry or former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum to drop out before the South Carolina primary, so conservative voters there can coalesce around a single individual.
6:08pm: The Other McCain is blogging: "NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY HQ UPDATE: Romney Wins; Ron Paul Second; Huntsman Third; Gingrich, Santorum Fight for Fourth Place."

6:10pm: Some video from New Hampshire is becoming available:

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