Tagged: NH Primary

With Romney being declared the winner, the race now turns to the rest. With less than 20% of the polling stations reporting, Newt is grabbing 10-percent of the votes. The mood here at his HQ remains upbeat, with the crowd starting to file into the ballroom in anticipation of the former Speaker's speech.

Bill Boyd is like the father of the bride tonight.  This Merrimack volunteer for the Santorum campaign has spent the whole day preparing the room for the candidate's primary night celebration.  It's a stressful job, but one Boyd says is satisfying.

Boyd says he's been with Santorum since they met in November 2010.  

Greg Carson, secretary of the N.H. Republican Party, is running out of steam. After a week of non-stop events, Carson said he is looking forward to tomorrow morning.

"I can't wait." 

The secretary isn't endorsing any candidate, but believes that having a large pool of choices is good for New Hampshire voters.

"The only bad thing is that the current mix of candidates is going to lead to some internal fighting," he says. 

Carson's wife, State Sen. Sharon Carson, has endorsed Mitt Romney.

Reporter Dan Gorenstein working his way through the scrum of reporters and supporters at the Black Brimmer in Manchester. 

A stream of relatively young people moved into the hall at 7:45PM, when the Paul staffers opened the doors to the crowd.  Among the chatter in the entering crowd was talk of a second-place finish and speculation surrounding exit polls.  Some were glued to their phones, looking at or listening to results.  Conversations also included talk about campaigns gone by, including the Giuliani campaign, and one Paul pin-adored supporter remarked that he had been driving people to the polls all day.   

A few dozen Romney supporters are chatting downstairs at Romney HQ after having been told by an apologetic staffer that the main event hall is filled to capacity.  Earlier tonight, a campaign staffer told the press that a SNHU scheduling conflict with FIRST Robotics is the cause of tonight's limited space.

Ron Paul election night headquarters is full primarily of journalists, but that will change soon.  Paul supporters have filled the lobby outside the main event room.  The Paul staff was originally not going to open the doors until 8 PM, but they have decided to let the Paul supporters in earlier.

The Paul Campaign says that there are at least 40 journalism organizations here, ranging from familiar names like Fox News and NPR to far flung organizations, including  Suddeutsche Zeitung from the south of Germany.

With less than an hour to go before polls close in New Hampshire, a huge crowd of reporters swarm Camp Gingrich. Flashbulbs and headphones are in the majority, as supporters are slowly starting to trickle in.