Romney Preserves Frontrunner Status Following Latest GOP Debate

(Newsroom America) -- Mitt Romney managed to preserve his frontrunner status following the latest Republican presidential debate Saturday, and will now head into New Hampshire on Tuesday with a double-digit lead as he marches closer to capturing the GOP nomination.

Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, was the focus of early attacks by his rivals, but they were quickly overshadowed by fiery exchanges between contenders Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich, The Hill newspaper reported.

The Saturday debate was the first between the GOP candidates in three weeks. Then, the paper said, Gingrich - former Speaker of the House - led in the polls and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was still running.

Romney won the nation's first caucus in Iowa last week, but only beat out Santorum by eight votes.

Saturday's event, in New Hampshire - where the nation's first primary will be held Tuesday - was sponsored by ABC News and Yahoo News.

Though he continues to lead in New Hampshire, Romney's support has eroded somewhat over the past four days, a Suffolk University daily tracking poll shows. Romney's support has fallen to 35 percent in the latest survey, down from 39 percent on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Paul and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman are seeing gains, with Paul rising to 20 percent - enough to earn him second place - and Huntsman trailing in third with 11 percent. Gingrich's support has fallen to 9 percent, the survey said, while Santorum's has dropped to 8 percent.

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