WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney outspent and, he said, outworked his competition in Iowa but still lost Thursday night's caucus vote to rival Mike Huckabee.

At press time, with 93 percent of precincts reporting, Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, was leading with 34 percent to Romney's 25 percent. Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., were tied for third, each with 13 percent of the vote. Rep. Ron Paul, who has attracted supporters with his Libertarian views, was fifth with a 10 percent showing, while former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who did not campaign hard in Iowa, was sixth with 3 percent.

Romney, trying to be upbeat at what was supposed to be his victory party, pledged to supporters that he would be back to Iowa — as the Republican nominee.

"Just because you win silver in one event doesn't mean you're not going to win the gold in the final event," Romney said after congratulating Huckabee on his victory in the Hawkeye state — the first nationally to vote in the process that chooses the Republican and Democratic party presidential nominees. The former Massachusetts governor, a relative political unknown himself entering the campaign, spent huge amounts of money and time to secure an Iowa victory and with it front-runner status.

Romney did note that he'd still beaten the "three household names" in the race, McCain, Giuliani and Thompson," and pointed out that he, Huckabee and the night's Democratic winner, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, were all seen as new faces.

"Washington is broken and we're going to change that," Romney said. "Iowa said that tonight."

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, who was campaigning with Romney in Iowa, agreed. "I don't see it as a crippling blow for Mitt in any way," he said, calling the vote a repudiation of Washington insiders that sends a message to Hillary Clinton and McCain.

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, who also joined Romney in last-minute campaigning in Iowa, felt second place was a good showing.

"Iowa is a really hard place to read," Cannon said, especially with nearly half of the caucusgoers expected to have been evangelicals. But, the congressman said, he felt no antagonism in the audience of nearly 500 people he addressed at a caucus tonight on Romney's behalf in Newton, a town about 30 minutes east of Des Moines.

"I think people voted for somebody they liked, not against someone for reasons like religious prejudice," Cannon said.

But Thursday night, at least, was about how Huckabee, once considered a near-fringe candidate, parlayed his experience as a Southern Baptist minister to draw upon support from Iowa evangelicals and first-time caucusgoers to pull off a stunning political surprise.