AUGUSTA – Maine Republican leaders said Sunday they weren’t surprised by Mitt Romney’s convincing win in weekend caucuses, but they were taken aback by the size of the former Massachusetts governor’s victory in the last presidential preference event before Super Tuesday.

“I’m not surprised about Romney. He is a New England person,” said Scott Kauffman, vice chairman of the Maine Republican Committee.

With votes counted from 69 percent of the Maine towns and cities holding caucuses, McCain polled second with 21 percent, Ron Paul third with 19 percent and Mike Huckabee fourth with 6 percent. Undecideds accounted for 2 percent of the votes in the 4,563 ballots cast.

Even though the votes from more towns are to be totaled, party leaders said the overall results won’t change. The caucuses are the first step toward selecting Maine’s delegates to the national convention, and the results of what was essentially a straw poll are nonbinding.

Maine GOP Executive Director Julie O’Brien, who had observed before the caucuses that Paul, a Texan congressman, had a strong and vibrant organization in Maine, said Romney’s solid win was likely due to his campaign’s efforts to reach party members by phone and persuade them to go to caucuses.

O’Brien said an 11th hour campaign visit by Romney’s son Tagg may also have played a role. Romney’s win “wasn’t a surprise, but it was a surprise to me that it was by so much,” she said.

Peter Cianchette, Maine’s GOP national committeemen who supports Romney, said he did not see Romney’s win as a surprise.

“We expected to do well and were pleased to see that it was by such a large margin,” Cianchette said in an e-mail. “Maine’s mainstream and conservatives Republicans demonstrated they believe Governor Romney is the best choice for our party.”

Attendance at the caucuses more than met the expectations of party leaders, who had set a goal of having the biennial party meetings in 80 percent of Maine’s municipalities.

Maine Republicans were completing their caucuses in a small scattering of towns Sunday, with a few more set for later this month.

Asked what impact Romney’s Maine win Saturday might have on the preference events in more than 20 states this week, Cianchette said it “helps us take some momentum into Tuesday. There are a lot of states voting on Tuesday and we expect to have a good showing. This is a two-man race that won’t be over on Super Tuesday.”

Romney, campaigning in Chicago, touted his Maine victory, noting that “it was a tough place for me to run” because the state’s GOP power structure – including U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and former Gov. John McKernan – had lined up in support of the Arizona senator.

But Romney said his campaign was boosted by conservative radio commentators who took up his cause before the caucuses.

Maine Democrats fired off a statement saying Romney’s policies “closely mirror those of the Bush administration, and were he to be elected president, it would be tantamount to a third term” for President Bush.

“The base of the Maine Republican Party is clearly out of step with most Maine people, who are looking for change and a new direction in Washington not simply more of the same,” said the statement by Democratic Party Executive Director Arden Manning.