The former governor of the neighboring state of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, won Tuesday's Republican primary in New Hampshire by an projected margin of 16 percent. This victory follows a much narrower triumph in a comparable ballot in the Iowa caucuses last week.

"Tonight we made history," Romney declared at the start of his victory speech. "Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we go back to work."

The multi-millionaire venture capitalist went on to criticize President Barack Obama's record, while simultaneously looking ahead to the next primary in the state of South Carolina, where pundits have predicted a rougher ride for Romney.

"The president has run out of ideas - and now he's running out of excuses," Romney told his supporters. "And tonight we're asking the good people of South Carolina to join the state of New Hampshire and make 2012 the year when he runs out of time."

Romney, who was a defeated Republican candidate for the 2008 nomination, was considered a narrow favorite for the 2012 ticket from day one - but a wide race, with six candidates still in the hunt, has made it a difficult contest to predict.

Ron Paul second, bad night for Santorum

Veteran Congressman and old-fashioned libertarian Ron Paul, who has a devoted base but some rather controversial policy positions, looked set to secure second place according to initial results. With nearly all of the votes counted, Paul had 23 percent of the ballot, compared to 17 percent for the former governor of Utah, John Huntsman.

Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the lower house of parliament (Congress), was running just inches ahead of a former senator for Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum - both the hopefuls had 10 and nine percent of the votes, respectively.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, whose candidacy appeared on the ropes after a fifth-placed finish in Iowa, was bringing up the rear with one percent of the vote.

The next Republican primary is to take place in South Carolina on January 21, as the build-up towards November's presidential election gathers pace.

As is typical for an incumbent party, no Democrat has challenged Barack Obama for the 2012 candidacy.

Author: Mark Hallam (AFP, AP, Reuters)
Editor: Chuck Penfold