ABJ - January 11 - As the polls indicated, Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, was the favourite to win the New Hampshire primary, inching closer to the 2012 Republican Party nomination.

When the votes were tallied, Romney did in fact win New Hampshire, with 95,669 votes, about 39.4 per cent.

As expected, Texas Congressman Ron Paul finished runner up to Romney, with 55,455 votes, about 22.8 per cent. With the victory, Romney captures seven delegates, while Paul added three delegates. A minimum 1,144 delegates are needed to win the Republican nomination.

Meanwhile, Jon Huntsman, the former Governor of Utah, who focused his campaign on New Hampshire, finished third in the state, with 40,903 votes, at 16.8 per cent, capturing two delegates.

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich finished fourth in New Hampshire (22,921 votes, 9.4 per cent), while former Senator of Pennsylvania Rick Santorum finished a close fifth (22,708 votes, 9.3 per cent). Texas Governor Rick Perry scored a disappointing finish in sixth place, with just 1,709 votes, at 0.7 per cent.

After Iowa and New Hampshire, Santorum has a total eight delegates, to Perry’s four delegates, and Gingrich’s three delegates. The primary season continues in South Carolina on January 21. Romney has carried the previous two states with a total 23 delegates.