Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has injected new life into his bid to win the Republican nomination for the White House, winning the primary election in Michigan.
The Democrat vote was declared void long in advance after a scheduling dispute, with the state party deciding to hold its primary early and losing the right to send delegates to the Democrat convention as a consequence.
Romney's win was his first in a key state, after finishing second both in Iowa and New Hampshire. In Michigan he scored 39%, with John McCain, the Arizona senator, second with 30%.
Mike Huckabee, who won in Iowa, was a distant third with 16%, but he is expected to pick up more votes in the South Carolina primary at the weekend, which is expected to gouge the support each candidate has in the South.
Romney seems to have benefited from his business experience in Michigan, where the economy has become a big issue as the car industry struggles and job losses rise, but McCain and Huckabee are seen as the main contenders for the lead in South Carolina.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has failed to make any major impact so far, but he has been focusing his campaign efforts on Florida, which will hold its primary at the end of the month.
All candidates are keen to build momentum before February 5, when 20 states will hold their primaries, including key ones like California, New York and New Jersey.
In the Democrat race, Michigan held no importance this time around, with the trio of front-runners -Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards - campaigning in Nevada instead.
Clinton and Obama both promised to end their damaging dispute over racial politics, which has not helped easing the tension between the candidates.
While hardly indicative of nationwide sentiment, the early primaries have in the past served to change the momentum of some campaigns, influencing the primaries in the bigger states, which are held later down the line.