Romney wins New Hampshire primary: US media

Mitt Romney has won the New Hampshire Republican primary to boost his chance to get the nomination to challenge United States President Barack Obama in the coming presidential polls, according to the American media projections.

The US media called the vote for the former Massachusetts governor shortly after polls closed late on Tuesday. The White House hopeful received 36 per cent of the nearly 15 per cent of the total votes counted in the second contest of the Republican presidential race.

Ron Paul, the Congressman from Texas was coming second with 24 per cent of the total votes. Paul was followed by the former Utah Governor, Jon Huntsman, with 18 per cent of the votes.

Rick Santarum, the former Senator from Pennsylvania, who lost the Iowa Caucus to Romney by just eight votes last week fared badly with less than 10 per cent of the votes. He was tied with Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

Unlike the previous Iowa Caucus, wherein it was a tight finish and the news networks waited beyond midnight to declare the winner, based on the poll trends, news channels were quick to project Romney was the winner.

CNN projected that "former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney will win the 2012 New Hampshire Republican primary, based on exit polls and early returns."

While MSNBC said, "Mitt Romney is projected to win the New Hampshire primary, scoring a decisive victory for the former Massachusetts governor in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination".

CBS News also projected that Romney will win the New Hampshire primary -- and that Texas Rep Ron Paul and former Utah Gov Jon Huntsman are battling for second place. "Romney's victory in New Hampshire, coupled with his victory in the very different state of Iowa, cements his status as the clear frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination -- albeit one about whom many Republicans have yet to embrace, as evidenced by national polls showing him unable to win more than 30 per cent support," CBS News said.

"Romney's presumptive victory, based on votes and exit polls, was expected for a candidate who has campaigned aggressively in this state that borders his home turf. After eking out a narrow win in last week's Iowa caucuses, Romney hoped a bigger victory here could ramp up his momentum heading into the South Carolina primary on Jan 21, where his conservative credentials could face their stiffest test," The Washington Post reported.

"Mitt Romney has won the New Hampshire Republican primary, achieving a sweep of the first two critical contests in the 2012 presidential race and boosting his chances at becoming his party's nominee this fall," The New York Times said.