(See also: “Hillary wins round 2, shocking the Obama crowd” on Blast’s PSA Blog)

NASHUA, N.H. — Senator Hillary Clinton took an early lead and held on to defeat Senator Barack Obama.

The Associated press was the first to call the race for Clinton, NBC News followed before CNN around 11 p.m.

Obama was hoping to get a boost from college towns, but in the end he came up short.

Former Senator John Edwards finished a distant and disappointing third with about 17 percent of the vote.

Senator John McCain has won among the Republicans, it is projected. Iowa winner Mike Huckabee looks to finish third ahead of Rudy Giuliani

Turnout has been upwards of 70 percent statewide — over 500,000 votes.

McCain gave his victory speech around 9:30 p.m. local time. No word from Mitt Romney. Senator Obama conceded around 11 p.m.

Though he talked about winning and had the crowd cheering "Mich-i-gan" and "Mac-Is-Back," his enthusiasm giving a prepared speech seemed to be lacking … his crowd didn’t seem to mind though.

As the world looks to New Hampshire, turn to BLAST.

Stick with Blast’s political blogs, PSA and Touch of Class for more developments.

Blast’s reporters be updating their stories all night as returns come in and reactions start.

Trevor Timm reported from Nashua, N.H. Blast Magazine staff writers Heidi Buchanan and John Guilfoil and correspondents Colin Vallance, Kellen Rice and Ryan Rice contributed to this report.