US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney won the little-noticed Republican caucuses in Wyoming Saturday, after finishing the second in Iowa caucuses on Thursday.

 

For Republicans, the Wyoming caucuses are the second battle in the presidential nominating contest, but their impact is far less than the Iowa caucuses, which kicked off the 2008 presidential nomination for both Republicans and Democrats.

 

Nevertheless, Romney, the former governor from Massachusetts, took some momentum from his first victory in the presidential race.

 

In Wyoming, he won support of seven state delegates out of the total of 12, who will be sent to the Republican national convention in early September, according to voting results reported by Wyoming Republican party's website.

 

Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee won two delegates and Rep. Duncan Hunter of California won one.

 

Romney's win was largely due to the absence of most of his strong rivals, including Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and winner of Iowa caucuses, John McCain, senator from Arizona, as well as the national poll leader and former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani.

 

Wyoming, which is the smallest state in the country in terms of population, has been largely ignored by most candidates in presidential nomination race.

 

Presidential candidates from both parties are now concentrating on the upcoming first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire on Jan. 8, which may make or break their chances to get the party nomination.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2008)