Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has won the New Hampshire Republican primary, according to the Associated Press.

Romney has about 36 percent of the vote with about 26 percent of the precincts reporting. Ron Paul has 24 percent, while Jon Huntsman has 16 percent.

The win certifies Romney as the front-runner for the Republican nomination in the 2012 election to face off against President Obama.

Unlike the Iowa caucus, where Romney won by just eight votes in the early morning hours of Jan. 4, the New Hampshire primary was called relatively quickly. That’s because the actual results match up very well with the exit polls and pre-election polls, according to Nate Silver of the New York Times.

The surge of Rick Santorum in Iowa seems to have hit a snag, as he currently is battling with Newt Gingrich for the No. 4 spot in the primary.

Romney is the first Republican who isn’t an incumbent to win both the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary in the same year, according to ABC News.