Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney handily won the New Hampshire primary, delivering his victory speech by 8:30 p.m. with 37 percent of the vote.
“Tonight we made history,” Romney said in his victory speech, according to the Associated Press. “The middle class has been crushed…our debt is too high and our opportunities too few.”
As of 8:30 p.m., Romney had about 37 percent of the votes with about 40 percent of the precincts reporting. Texas congressman Ron Paul came in second with about 28 percent of the votes, followed by former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman in third with about 17 percent. In their concession speeches shortly after 9 p.m., Both Paul and Huntsman and Paul pledged to take their campaigns to the next battleground in South Carolina.
As of 10 P.M., Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum were in a battle for fourth and fifth place with about 10 percent of the vote each.
