Mitt Romney holds solid lead in NH

Mitt Romney still holds a firm lead in New Hampshire, the second-voting state in the GOP presidential race, according to a new poll released Tuesday.

Romney consistently holds 43 percent of the vote, according to the daily Suffolk University/7News polling. The survey released Monday by those organizations also showed Romney with 43 percent.

Romney is followed by Ron Paul at 16 percent, Jon Huntsman holding steady in third place at 10 percent and Newt Gingrich with 9 percent.

Rick Santorum won 5 percent, a modest bump that could signal upward momentum by the candidate, who is also riding a surge in Iowa.

“Rick Santorum now trails Gingrich by only 4 points, and if he surpasses Gingrich and knocks him into fifth place, it would be fatal for Gingrich,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said in a statement released with the survey.

Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry each have 2 percent in the poll. Both candidates have essentially ceded the state to the rest of the field and plan to proceed straight from Iowa to campaign events in South Carolina this week following Tuesday’s Iowa caucus.

The survey by the Political Research Center in Boston surveyed Republicans likely to vote in New Hampshire’s primary. The poll was conducted Jan. 1-2. The center will continue tracking voters up until the primary, which is scheduled for Jan. 10.

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