CASPER, WYO. - Mitt Romney captured his first win of the Republican presidential race Saturday, prevailing in Wyoming caucuses for a much-needed boost to his candidacy three days before the New Hampshire primary.

"This is just the beginning," he declared.

The former Massachusetts governor won eight delegates, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson got three, and California Rep. Duncan Hunter won one.

The victory was a welcome development for Romney, coming two days after his loss to Mike Huckabee in the Iowa caucuses and three days before the first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire. Those two states have attracted most of the political attention. Wyoming had scheduled its GOP county conventions earlier to attract candidates to the state but had only modest results.

Romney visited Wyoming in August and November, and three of his five sons campaigned in the state. One son, Josh Romney, owns a ranch in southwest Wyoming.

"Number one, he campaigned here," delegate Leigh Vosler of Cheyenne said of Romney. "I think that helped while some other candidates ignored us. But also he's the right person for the job."

Hunter, Thompson and Ron Paul all stopped in the state -- visits they probably wouldn't have made except for this year's early conventions -- and candidates have sent Wyoming's GOP voters a flood of campaign mail.

Tom Sansonetti, the county convention organizer, maintained Saturday that moving the state's caucuses ahead was the right thing to do.

"The ultimate goal is not how many times we appear on Katie Couric," Sansonetti said. "The ultimate goal was to have attention paid to rank-and-file Republicans by national candidates."

Wyoming Republicans also paid a price for jumping ahead. The Republican National Committee has slashed half of Wyoming's 28 national convention delegates. National party leaders similarly penalized Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire and South Carolina for moving up the dates of their nomination contests.

RNC rules require the punishment for states that hold their nominating contests earlier than Feb. 5. Iowa, which held caucuses Thursday, will not be penalized because, technically, the caucuses are not binding on convention delegates. Nevada, which plans to hold its caucuses Jan. 19, will not be penalized for the same reason.

Besides the 12 delegates chosen at Saturday's county conventions in Wyoming, two delegates to be chosen at a statewide convention in May will also be sent to the national convention in Minneapolis.

Wyoming Democrats hold their caucuses March 8.

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