Mitt Romney Wins Federal Cigar Matchbook Poll [VIDEO]

Mitt Romney scored a decisive victory in the 2012 NH Primary Federal Cigar Matchbook Poll on Friday afternoon.

The former Massachusetts governor received 191 votes, or 43 percent of the matchbook ballots cast in the Portsmouth, Dover and Epping stores. Texas Congressman Ron Paul received 88 votes, or 20 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich, who received 43 votes, or 9.5 percent; Jon Huntsman received 24 votes, or 5.5 percent; followed by former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer (8 votes, 2 percent) and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (7 votes, 2 percent).

Scott Tranchemontagne, a spokesman for the Federal Cigar Federal Forecast poll, said President Barack Obama received 79 votes in the NH Democratic Primary poll. A total of 448 matchbook ballots were case in both polls for the NH Republican and Democratic primaries.

When asked how he viewed the results, Federal Cigar store owner Rick Gadway said, "I'm not surprised."

Currently, Romney is the frontrunner in the NH Primary and if the Federal Cigar matchbook poll is any indication of what may happen in Tuesday's first-in-the-nation contest, Romney could enjoy the decisive victory he is hoping to realize.

Tranchemontagne said Federal Cigar has conducted other NH Primary polls that go back to at least 1982 and some of the store's older customers say they participated in similar polls in the 1960s. In 2008, Barack Obama and Ron Paul won the last Federal Cigar matchbook polls on the Democratic and Republican sides.

Tranchemontagne said Federal Cigar, which opened in 1921 and is the oldest cigar shop in New Hampshire, takes its matchbook poll tradition very seriously and he said it is just as important as the first ballots that are cast in Dixville Notch in the NH Primary or any other traditional political venue in the state.