ROCHESTER, N.H. - Republican front-runner Mitt Romney captured the nation's first primary election Tuesday, easily rebuffing aggressive attacks by a host of challengers.
"Thank you New Hampshire. Tonight we made history," Romney told well-wishers, flanked by wife Ann and the couple's sons. "Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we go back to work."
Romney is the first Republican to sweep the first two contests in a competitive race since Iowa gained the lead-off spot in presidential campaigns in 1976. His win here sets the stage for a potentially bloody battle in the next GOP battleground state, South Carolina, which holds its primary Jan. 21.
RELATED | Romney says NH victory will push him forward
With 70% of precincts reporting, the former Massachusetts governor had 38% of the vote, followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul with 24% and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman with 17%. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum trailed with 10% each. Texas Gov. Rick Perry lagged with less than 1%.
Romney's standing in the Granite State had slid to 33% from 43% in the past five days, according to a Suffolk University/7News tracking poll, but according to early results, he seemed poised for a comfortable victory. The battle for second seemed more of a contest, with a surging Huntsman battling Paul and Santorum, the runner-up to Romney at last week's Iowa caucuses.
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The battle for second was won with surprising strength by the quirky populist Paul, whose small-government message resonated with voters to defeat a surging Huntsman and Santorum, the runner-up to Romney at last week's Iowa caucuses.
"I sort of have to chuckle when they describe you and me as being dangerous,'' a jubilant Paul told supporters here. "That's the one thing they are telling the truth. We are dangerous to the status quo of this country."
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Like Paul, Huntsman said he was setting his sights on winning the upcoming GOP primary in South Carolina. His finish here gives him "a ticket to ride," he said.
"As we look at the numbers now, we're in a strong, confident position - and all eyes are going to be south (on South Carolina) from here," he told CNN.
Despite their lagging results Tuesday, Santorum and Gingrich both told supporters that they would remain in the race. There are lots of contests still to come, Santorum told reporters earlier in Manchester. "There's going to be lots of opportunities to rise and fall," he said.
Santorum, who rocketed to prominence with a virtual tie with Romney in Iowa, said there wasn't time enough to capitalize on that momentum before New Hampshire's primary and that he would be content to pull a double-digit percentage of the votes.
The economy was the top concern of state voters, according to early results of an exit poll conducted by Edison Research for the Associated Press and TV networks. In addition, about a third of them said their main criterion in picking a candidate was finding one who can defeat President Obama in this fall's elections. About half of those voting Tuesday consider themselves conservative, compared with eight in 10 Iowa voters last week. The survey was conducted at 40 random sites here, and the preliminary results are based on interviews with 1,774 voters. The poll has a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points.
RELATED | Weak in NH, Gingrich says he's talking jobs in SC
Gingrich - an underdog in New Hampshire's primary - said he would continue to criticize Romney for his work with the Bain Capital investment firm, saying it made money even on companies that went bankrupt.
Critics pulled Romney's firing quote out of context to reinforce a withering assault on him for his role in the private equity firm that took over companies and sometimes laid off workers.
Gingrich was an unlikely defender of Romney on Tuesday saying the comment is being used out of context and it's not fair to attack him over it.
But the former House speaker did say it raised questions about how well Romney might be able to campaign in the fall.
"Now he was clumsy the way he said it," Gingrich said on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "In debate, do you really want someone who is that clumsy?"
"I'd be a much more effective debater," said Gingrich, who has emerged as Romney's fiercest critic on the Republican campaign trail after a dispute over negative campaigning in Iowa.
At Rochester Middle School, ward supervisor Jason Hamann said early morning turnout was lighter than he expected: 108 people voted in the first hour and a half the polls were open. He said he had expected 200.
Shannon Taber, 37, a bartender, voted for Romney because she said she's looking for "basically someone who can beat (President) Obama."
She said she likes Romney's experience and the fact that polls show he's got support. As a Republican, she feels "it's time to band together and pick someone."
Kevin Langelier, 42, an unemployed accountant, said he liked Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts.
"He's got a successful career as a businessman and I think he can do a lot for the economy," Langelier said. "I think he can beat Obama. I don't think anyone else is electable."
In the tiny town of Dixville Notch, which voted shortly after midnight, Romney and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman tied for first place with two votes each. Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul got one vote each.
New Hampshire voters will go to the polls throughout the day after receiving months of attention from the Republican candidates and witnessing an increasingly sharp tone in the struggle for the nomination.
Rick Santorum, who rocketed to prominence with a virtual tie with Romney in Iowa, said there wasn't time enough to capitalize on that momentum before New Hampshire's primary and that he would be content to pull a double-digit percentage of the votes.
There are lots of contests still to come, Santorum said, speaking to reporters between shaking voters' hands at a Manchester polling place. "There's going to be lots of opportunities to rise and fall," he said.
With the quirky, libertarian-leaning Paul running a strong second to Romney in New Hampshire polls for much of the year, third place may become a highly coveted spot for the rest of the field hoping to prove they can keep up with Romney.
Romney's ill-timed comment the day before the primary came at a breakfast event in Nashua, when he told an audience that his health care plan would allow them to dismiss insurers and health care providers.
"If you don't like what they do, you can fire them," he said. "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."
The Democratic National Committee immediately sent out a video showing the comment and Romney's GOP rivals jumped on it.
"Gov. Romney enjoys firing people; I enjoy creating jobs," Huntsman told reporters in Concord, adding: "It may be that he's slightly out of touch with the economic reality playing out in America right now."
Romney later said his comments were being misrepresented. "We should be able to choose the insurance companies of our choice," he said. "We should not have to have one foisted upon us by the presidentt and Obamacare."
The former Massachusetts governor also defended the investment firm he founded, Bain Capital, calling criticism of it an attack on free enterprise more likely to come from Obama and "Democrats on the left."
Independents are allowed to vote in the primary which will help decide whether a candidate like Santorum who has a sharp focus can appeal to a broader electorate, as would be required in a successful general election. On the other side, Huntsman is relying upon independents and moderate Republicans to fuel a late surge to relevancy.
Polls suggested Huntsman may be on the rise, but New Hampshire voters will decide if it it's too little, too late. He could be pushed out of the nomination race if he finishes below third place in the six-man field.
A former ambassador to China in the Obama administration, Huntsman spent the final 48 hours trying to capitalize on a notable debate exchange with Romney. A relentless critic of Obama, Romney had criticized Huntsman for serving in Obama's administration. Huntsman countered that he had put his country ahead of partisan politics.
Huntsman aired a new television ad highlighting his call for national unity and adopted a new campaign slogan, borrowing "Country First" from 2008 GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry joined the Romney bashing that intensified over the past few days from South Carolina, where he's been campaigning.
The issue is sure to be pressed in South Carolina, which holds the next primary - and by Democrats in the fall, if Romney is the GOP presidential nominee. Still, Romney is poised for a major boost if he wins the New Hampshire primary after narrowly carrying the Iowa caucuses.