Mitt Romney won the evangelical vote in N.H., improves '08 showing

Mitt Romney garnered more votes from evangelical/born-again voters in the New Hampshire primary than any other Republican presidential candidate, according to analysis from Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life of exit polling conducted by the National Election Pool.

"In the exit polls, 22 percent of New Hampshire voters describe themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians. Of those, 31 percent voted for Romney. Rick Santorum and Ron Paul were effectively tied for second place among evangelicals (at 23 and 21 percent, respectively). … Among the 78 percent of New Hampshire primary voters who are not evangelical Christians, four-in-ten voted for Romney (40 percent), while about one-in-four supported Paul (24 percent)."

Pew further reports that Romney's performance Tuesday in the Granite State represented marked improvements among both evangelical and non-evangelical demographics compared to his 2008 showing in the New Hampshire primary, when he received 27 percent of evangelical votes and 34 percent support from non-evangelicals.

Baptist Press cited a recent Pew Research Center national poll Tuesday in reporting that, among white evangelical voters, Romney and Santorum lead the GOP field at 22 percent apiece; among Catholics, Romney stands at 33 percent — well ahead of runner-up Newt Gingrich's 19 percent.

"Some Republican voters and leaders have expressed frustration with the GOP field, and the poll reflects that sentiment," Baptist Press reported. "Fifty-one percent of GOP voters rate the choices as 'excellent/good' compared to 44 percent who rate it 'fair/poor.' At this point in 2008 — when John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Romney were leading the pack — 68 percent of GOP voters rated the field as excellent or good."

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