NH voters say Romney’s religion is hurting his bid to be frontrunner

New Hampshire voters are still strongly leaning toward Mitt Romney ahead of the state's Republican presidential primary, but a new Granite State poll offers clues as to why Romney isn't the clear frontrunner nationally.

A Suffolk University survey of likely GOP voters in New Hampshire finds Romney with a 27-point lead in the state, with 41 percent support. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul were tied for second place, with 14 percent support apiece.

Asked why Romney's candidacy wasn't doing as well among national Republicans, New Hampshire voters offered some intriguing answers, according to Suffolk:

It's worth noting that a plurality of respondents in the survey—27 percent—said they didn't know why Republicans are still looking for an alternative to Romney. But Romney's campaign is sure to be unsettled by how high the former its candidate's religion placed on the list—especially when you consider that New Hampshire is considered friendly territory for Romney., who owns property there and served as governor of the neighboring state of Massachusetts.

When asked directly about Romney's religion, voters in most key primary states insist that it's not a factor in who they will vote for. Ninety-one percent of likely Republican caucus-goers in Iowa and 96 percent of likely GOP voters in New Hampshire said being Mormon doesn't "rule out" a candidate, according to a recent Bloomberg News poll.

But that may not be the case in South Carolina, where a recent Marist Poll found 53 percent of likely GOP voters say they aren't sure whether Mormons should be considered Christians.

Romney has shied away from talking about his faith very much. Last month, he said he wouldn't deliver a speech as he did in 2008 to explain Mormonism. Asked in a People magazine interview set to be released later this week if he'd like to clear up any misunderstandings about his faith, Romney indicated he wouldn't.

"That's not my responsibility as a candidate, and the church could do a better job describing that than I," Romney told People, according to excepts released by the magazine. "But perhaps the greatest is that the real name is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We consider Jesus the son of God without parallel."

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