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June 13th, 2011
11:15 PM ET
..CNN Political Unit report
Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN) - A survey of GOP insiders indicates that Mitt Romney was the biggest winner of Monday night's CNN/WMUR/New Hampshire Union Leader Republican presidential debate.
According to a National Journal Political Insiders poll, 51 percent of those questioned say that the former Massachusetts governor was the biggest winner of the debate, with 21 percent saying that Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was the winner. In third place in the survey was former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty at nine percent, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at seven percent, former Godfather's Pizza CEO and radio talk show host Herman Cain and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania at four percent.
None of the 54 Republican political operatives, strategists, campaign consultants and lobbyists who are part of the National Journal's regular panel of Washington insiders said that Rep. Ron Paul of Texas was the biggest winner of the debate.
So who was the biggest loser?
Twenty-six percent say Pawlenty, with 19 percent saying Cain was the biggest loser. Twelve percent pick Gingrich as the person who lost the most, followed by Romney at 11 percent, Santorum at seven percent and Bachmann and Paul each at four percent.
National Journal also surveyed a similar amount of Democratic Party insiders, with 35 percent saying Romney was the biggest winner, followed by 26 percent choosing Bachmann as the clear winner.
–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
