Ron Paul Narrows the Gap But Mitt Romney Still Leads in N.H.

In a Suffolk University/7News poll released on Sunday morning, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas closed the gap but is still trailing former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts in the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary.

Romney takes 35 percent followed by Paul with 20 percent. Earlier in the week, Romney pulled as high as 43 percent in the Suffolk daily tracking poll of the Granite State. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah takes third with 11 percent while former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich takes 9 percent and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania takes 8 percent. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and former Gov. Buddy Roemer of Louisiana each take 1 percent.

Its a New Hampshire primary, its January, and here we go again, said David Paleologos, the director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. Romneys strategy of running out the clock is costing him margin, Huntsman is still fighting hard and beginning to rally, and New Hampshire is playing contrarian to Rick Santorum, the Iowa caucus star of a week ago, who has dropped to fifth place.

The poll of 500 likely Republican voters was taken on Jan. 6-7 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percent.