Rick Perry may have jumped to an early lead in national polls, but he trails far behind Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, where the former Massachusetts governor has added to an already commanding lead in the first-in-the-nation primary, according to a new Suffolk University/7NEWS poll.

The poll indicated that, despite Perry’s sudden burst onto the national scene, Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman stand a better chance of emerging as Romney’s chief rival in the Granite State.

Romney holds a 27-point lead in New Hampshire, with support from 41 percent of likely voters, up from 36 percent in June, when Suffolk last polled in New Hampshire.

Paul, the Texas congressman, is in second place with 14 percent, followed by Huntsman, the former Utah governor, with 10 percent. Both men have picked up 6 percentage points since June, signs of life for their campaigns which have not gained much national attention.

Perry, the Texas governor who has vaulted past Romney into the lead in national polls, is in fourth place in New Hampshire, backed by just 8 percent of those surveyed.

The rest of the field is polling in the single digits.