(Photo courtesy of Creative Commons).

According to The Wall Street Journal, a last-minute poll by Suffolk University has Romney at 37 percent support - nearly 20 points above Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman.

Romney campaigned hard and owns a home in New Hampshire. The Wall Street Journal reported that he has had a substantial lead in the state for months. He has been endorsed by many of its leading political figures and John McCain.

Candidates behind Romney will have a final chance to become a conservative rival for Romney at the Jan. 21 South Carolina primary.

Romney has been criticized recently for making comments about firing people and been accused of taking multimillion-dollar payouts at Bain Capital.

At a breakfast event in Nashua, Romney told an audience that his health care plan would allow them to dismiss insurers and health care providers, USA Today reported.

"If you don't like what they do, you can fire them," he said. "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."

Romney later told USA Today that his comments were misrepresented.

"We should be able to choose the insurance companies of our choice," he said. "We should not have to have one foisted upon us by the president and Obamacare."

Huntsman has been putting up a strong campaign, gaining last-minute momentum, MSNBC reported. Huntsman may have gained more voters after strong weekend debate performances.

"I've done my due diligence on the GOP candidates, and his policies really resonate with me," Barbara Morris of Concord, N.H. told MSNBC. Morris said she only decided to vote for Huntsman in the past few weeks.

According to The Wall Street Journal, two small New Hampshire towns cast the first votes in the primary just after midnight. Dixville Notch gave Romney and Huntsman two votes apiece, Gingrich and Paul each received one vote.

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Reach executive producer Agnus Dei Farrant here.