Bloomberg Poll: Romney Up Big, and Would Defeat Obama, in New Hampshire

It’s no surprise that Mitt Romney has a strong lead in the GOP primary in the Granite State. It’s practically his political back yard.

Romney, 64, is the preferred choice of 40 percent of likely New Hampshire primary voters in a Bloomberg News poll conducted Nov. 10-12. Paul places second at 17 percent, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is at 11 percent. All the other candidates are below 10 percent.

As the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, Romney is a familiar presence in the Granite State. He owns a vacation home on the edge of Lake Winnipesaukee and campaigned in the state during his first, unsuccessful presidential bid in 2008.

But Romney’s New Hampshire strength isn’t limited to the primary. At the moment, he would defeat President Obama there.

Driven down by economic forces, President Barack Obama is running poorly in New Hampshire, a state he carried in 2008 and one that has been a swing state in recent presidential elections.

Obama trails Republican Mitt Romney among likely general election voters in the state by 10 percentage points in a hypothetical contest amid voter discontent with the president’s job performance and the economy, according to a Bloomberg News poll conducted Nov. 10-11. Obama carried New Hampshire by 54 percent to 45 percent in 2008.

Independent voters in the state, the site of the nation’s first presidential primary, have swung even more strongly against Obama. Romney would win independents there by 15 percentage points, the poll shows.