Mitt Romney Beating Ron Paul and Rick Santorum in New Hampshire

As the days tick down until Tuesday when New Hampshire voters hold the first presidential primary, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts continues to lead in the Granite State.

A Suffolk University/7News two-day tracking poll of likely primary voters released on Thursday found Romney crushing the field of Republican presidential candidates with 41 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is second with 18 percent while former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania -- who finished 8 votes behind Romney in the Iowa caucus on Tuesday night -- has moved up to third with 8 percent. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah are tied for fourth with 7 percent while former Gov. Buddy Roemer of Louisiana stands in sixth with 1 percent. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and activist Fred Karger takes less than 1 percent. With less than a week to go until the primary, 17 percent remain undecided.

David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said on Thursday that the Iowa caucus -- which saw a close battle between Romney, Santorum and Paul -- is influencing New Hampshire voters.

This is the first full day that voters had the opportunity to digest the final results of the Iowa caucuses, said Paleologos. The result is that the same three winners in Iowa are the top three contenders in New Hampshire.

The poll of 500 likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters was taken on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.4. percent.