MANCHESTER, New Hampshire—Arizona Sen. John McCain won the New Hampshire Republican primary on Tuesday, a huge boost to his bid for the U.S. presidential nomination just months after his campaign was being written off as a lost cause.
In the Democratic race to be the presidential nominee in the November election, former first lady Hillary Clinton was in a tight battle to keep her once high-flying Democratic campaign alive against rival Barack Obama's surge.
The victory over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney pushed McCain, a staunch Iraq war supporter, into the top tier of candidates as the race headed into an intense month of campaigning culminating in the Super Tuesday nominating contests on February 5, when some 22 states pick presidential candidates.
Five days after finishing a disappointing third in Iowa, Clinton was trying to revive her campaign and promised she was staying in the race until the February 5 "Super Tuesday" round.
Obama, an Illinois senator aiming to be the first black president, looked for a New Hampshire win that would solidify his hold on the top spot in the campaign to be the Democratic candidate in November and deal a second consecutive humiliating loss to Clinton, the former front-runner.
Campaign and state officials reported large crowds at some polling stations, aided by the unseasonably balmy weather. There were predictions of a record turnout during the most wide open U.S. presidential race in more than 50 years, with no sitting president or vice president seeking the nominations.
New Hampshire's primary is the second high-profile battleground, following Iowa, in the state-by-state process of choosing Republican and Democratic candidates for November's election to succeed President George W. Bush.
Clinton, a New York senator and former first lady, and Romney are both under intense pressure to revive their campaigns after disappointing showings in Iowa. Romney finished second in Iowa to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
