Romney Victory Sets Stage for Next Contest
Mitt Romney
Charles Dharapak/AP
Supporters of Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, react as it was declared that he was the winner of the New Hampshire primary rlection at his reception on Jan. 10, 2012.
Supporters of Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, react as it was declared that he was the winner of the New Hampshire primary rlection at his reception on Jan. 10, 2012. Photographer: Charles Dharapak/AP
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, talks about the results of the New Hampshire primary. Norquist speaks with Erik Schatzker and Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Matthew Dowd, Bloomberg political analyst and former chief campaign strategist for George W. Bush, talks about Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's prospects for nomination. Romney cemented his status as the front-runner yesterday with a win in the New Hampshire primary. Dowd speaks with Sara Eisen on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)
Mitt Romney
Charlie Neibergall/AP
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets supporters during a Romney for President Iowa Caucus night rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 3, 2012.
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets supporters during a Romney for President Iowa Caucus night rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 3, 2012. Photographer: Charlie Neibergall/AP
Mitt Romney cemented his status as the Republican presidential front-runner yesterday with a win in the New Hampshire primary that left rivals fighting for a chance to derail his march to the nomination as the race moves south.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who won the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses by eight votes, finished 16 percentage points ahead of his nearest competitor in New Hampshire, the nation’s first primary. U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas was second and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. claimed third.
The candidates are now turning their attention to South Carolina, where the next primary will be held on Jan. 21. In addition to his victories at the polls, Romney is leading the money race. Today, his campaign said Romney raised $24 million in the last three months of 2011; Paul brought in $13 million in the period.
“Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we go back to work,” Romney told supporters in Manchester last night in a speech that debuted new lines of attack against President Barack Obama.
Romney told his audience that the president he hopes to oppose in November “has run out of ideas” and is “running out of excuses.”
“We’re asking the good people of South Carolina to join the citizens of New Hampshire and make 2012 the year he runs out of time,” he said.
Making History
Romney made history as the first Republican non-incumbent to win both the New Hampshire primary and the Iowa caucuses since Iowa began kicking off the party’s presidential nominating process in 1976.
Romney had 39 percent of the vote yesterday, with 97 percent of the precincts counted in the Associated Press tally. Paul had 23 percent, and Huntsman got 17 percent.
Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich was slightly ahead of former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum for fourth place, each with about 9 percent of the vote. Both are seeking better showings in South Carolina and Florida, which holds its primary on Jan. 31.
Finishing sixth, with less than 1 percent, was Texas Governor Rick Perry. He skipped campaigning in New Hampshire to focus on South Carolina, where voters concerned about issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion hold greater sway.
Perry said in a statement that the New Hampshire results “show the race for a ‘conservative alternative’ to Mitt Romney remains wide open.”
Paul’s Views
Paul’s libertarian views resonated with New Hampshire voters, who said in exit polls that they had no allegiance to either of the major political parties.
Romney “had a clear-cut victory, but we’re nibbling at his heels,” Paul told a cheering crowd in Manchester.
“There’s no way they are going to stop the momentum that we have started,” Paul said. “We are dangerous to the status quo of this country.”
Huntsman, who staked his campaign on a strong showing in New Hampshire, pledged to continue his candidacy.
“I think we’re in the hunt!” he told backers in Manchester, adding, “Third place is a ticket to ride.”
Huntsman also declared: “Hello, South Carolina.”
Polls in that state, though, have shown him lagging behind the pack.
Attacks on Romney
The final days of the New Hampshire campaign suggested that the South Carolina contest will be marked by attacks on Romney that aim to blunt his momentum by undercutting his argument that he is the candidate best able to revive the U.S. economy.
Some of Romney’s rivals portrayed him to New Hampshire voters as a corporate raider who chose profit over jobs in his years as a private-equity executive at Boston-based Bain Capital LLC.
A film financed by Gingrich backers and set for release in South Carolina today attacks Romney as a child of privilege who is “more ruthless than Wall Street.”
The film relates the stories of people who say they lost their jobs after their companies were taken over by Bain, without identifying the workers. The video, while often relying on news accounts, at times stretches the truth and takes some reports out of context or selectively edits them, a review by Bloomberg News shows.
This morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Romney said he “expected President Obama to put free enterprise on trial and continue his rhetoric of envy and class warfare. We’re a little surprised to see it coming from Speaker Gingrich and others.”
Gingrich Campaigns
Gingrich, campaigning in Rock Hill, South Carolina, this morning, emphasized his Christian beliefs and conservative record. Calling the lead-up to South Carolina’s primary the most important period in American history, he described his opponents as too moderate, too inexperienced and too indecisive to win in November, without calling them out by name.
“This primary is the crossroads for this country,” Gingrich told a cheering crowd of more than 300. “We have to nominate someone capable of telling the truth against Barack Obama, because you’re not going to beat a billion-dollar machine of dishonesty otherwise.”
Gingrich raised about $9 million for his campaign in the fourth quarter, according to his spokesman, R.C. Hammond. The finance reports aren’t due until the end of January, and many candidates have yet to release their figures.
To contact the reporters on this story: Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Manchester, New Hampshire at
jdavis159@bloomberg.net; Lisa Lerer in Manchester, New Hampshire at llerer@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net
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