The Hill News

The Huntsman campaign says its decision to boycott Tuesday’s Las Vegas debate, along with its threat to boycott the Nevada caucuses, is paying off.

The Republican presidential candidate picked up the endorsements of six more New Hampshire State Representatives on Thursday. The campaign’s press release said the state Representatives cited Huntsman’s “economic plan, foreign policy experience and protection of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary” in their decisions.

State Representatives David Robbins, Carolyn Gargasz, David Kidder, Richard Drisko, Priscilla Lockwood and Peter Bolster announced their support for the former Utah governor, although none of the endorsements included in the campaign’s press release mentioned the New Hampshire primary.

“Governor Huntsman has common-sense approaches to solving our country's economic problems,” said Representative Kidder in a statement. “He clearly stands out to me as the! candidate best-suited to get the job done. His foreign policy experience is unmatched, and in such a turbulent time on the world stage, that’s vital.”

Huntsman already has endorsements from state Reps. Rick Ladd, David Knox and Jeff St. Cyr, as well as the New Hampshire Veterans of Foreign Wars.

New Hampshire’s fight for the sanctity of its first-in-the-nation primary began when Florida moved its contest date to Jan. 31, prompting the traditional early voting states to move up the dates of their primaries and caucuses. But it was Nevada’s decision to hold its caucuses Jan. 14 that New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner said threatens the legitimacy of his state’s primary.

New Hampshire GOP leaders have intensified the push to preserve the state’s first-in-the-nation status recently. New Hampshire state House Speaker Bill O’Brien and Senate President Peter Bragdon have called on candidates to boycott the Nevada caucuses,! and an online petition is now calling for the same.

New Hampshire media outlets are also keeping a close eye on which candidates support the state in this fight. The influential Union Leader ran an op-ed Tuesday calling for Romney to “put New Hampshire voters’ minds at ease about his commitment to the primary and the value of selecting candidates the old-fashioned way” by joining the Nevada boycott.