U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton may have had a secret weapon in her upset victory in the New Hampshire primary: an army of volunteers from Massachusetts.

Busloads of Massachusetts Democrats made the trip north in the closing days of the New Hampshire campaign to make telephone calls, knock on doors and stump for Clinton, D-N.Y.

U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Worcester, bused 60 supporters up for the weekend while other congressmen and state legislators lent their hands to the effort.

McGovern made several trips to New Hampshire, and he estimates 75 people came with him over the past weeks.

McGovern said Clinton had an amazingly large and well-organized campaign organization that made a difference in her victory over U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also had volunteers from the Bay State, but he still finished second behind Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.

State Rep. Betty Poirier, R-North Attleboro, was among those who gave time to the Romney campaign in New Hampshire.

Poirier said campaigning for Romney was "an amazing experience," because she got to meet people from all over the country to volunteer for various candidates.

She said there were people from as far away as Virginia and Texas volunteering for Romney.

"And they do it on their own dime," she said, explaining that the volunteers pay their own expenses.

Romney took a hard hit in New Hampshire, but local Republicans said he still has support in Massachusetts.

"I still think he has a huge base here," said Danielle Fish, a Republican State Committee member from Mansfield.

McGovern said all the hard work was worth it because Clinton not only won, but confounded the alleged experts who said her candidacy was dead.

"I've known her for many years, and I think she gets a bad rap from some in the media," he said.

Everywhere he went in New Hampshire, he said, there were large, enthusiastic crowds greeting Clinton and an efficient campaign backing her. "The polls showing her losing didn't make sense to me based on what I was seeing on the ground," he said.

He said he was thrilled to see history in the making as Clinton became the first woman ever to win a primary.

"People were really pumped up. My mother was more excited about this election than me," he said.

JIM HAND covers politics for The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0399 or at jhand@thesunchronicle.com.