DES MOINES, Iowa — He seemed to come out of nowhere: A former Baptist preacher and ex-governor who was so little known among Republicans that many of them could not even name the state he once led (Arkansas). But Mike Huckabee turned from asterisk-status to giant-slayer in Iowa on Thursday night.

For former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, his loss here will register as a deep blow to his candidacy — a failure bound to worry establishment Republicans and wealthy donors who have viewed him as their man, and also energize and inspire Republicans who are backing Sen. John McCain in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.

Romney's drive to the Republican nomination was supposed to begin by looking formidable and confident coming out of Iowa, where he had long been the front-runner. He now heads to New Hampshire clearly wounded and a target for even more rivals, such as former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, former Sen. Fred Thompson, and McCain.

Huckabee, a folksy and fairly plain-speaking politician with a sense of humor that many Iowans enjoyed, appealed to Republican caucus-goers who put a premium on a candidate's Christian faith — and who were deeply wary about seeing a Mormon, Romney, become president. But Huckabee also struck many populist themes that have deep appeal to middle-class Iowans and farmers, promising to tailor his economic priorities to their needs and taking tough stands on a key issue here, immigration.

But Iowa voters are not New Hampshire voters, as Huckabee and his advisers are well aware. Devoutly religious voters do not exist in nearly the same numbers in the Granite State; rather, the fervent anti-tax sentiment among Republicans there is likely to clash with Huckabee's record of raising taxes in Arkansas.

McCain, despite finishing behind the top two candidates in Iowa, now appears to be in a strengthened position in New Hampshire, given Huckabee's weak operation there and Romney's failure here. The Iowa results could also help Giuliani and Thompson, given that Romney had seemed like such a major foe.

Huckabee also lacks teams of political veterans in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and the states with primaries to follow — certainly nothing to match the operations McCain and Romney have spent a year building.

And Huckabee's recent missteps, such as a bungled negative advertising attack and his misstatements about Pakistan and immigration, and his paucity of foreign policy experience will be grist for his rivals.