Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich received a big primary endorsement from New Hampshire’s largest newspaper on Sunday, a major blow to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the polling front runner in the state.

“We are in critical need of the innovative, forward-looking strategy and positive leadership that Gingrich has shown he is capable of providing,” wrote Joseph W. McQuaid, publisher of the Manchester Union Leader. “A lot of candidates say they’re going to improve Washington. Newt Gingrich has actually done that, and in this race he offers the best shot of doing it again.”

New Hampshire traditionally holds the first primary election in the nation, and several candidates have met with the paper’s editorial board over the past few months in hopes of securing its influential endorsement. New Hampshire will hold its Republican primary election on January 10, 2012.