All endorsements may be created equal, but some are more equal than others.

That’s especially true when a home-state Senator takes sides in the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire presidential primary. And that’s what happened Monday, when Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) announced that he was backing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the GOP White House nomination. [IMGCAP(1)]

“Mitt Romney embodies New Hampshire’s values — values that stress government living within its means, lower taxes, a stronger military and stronger families,” Gregg said in a statement.

Both Gregg and Romney are sons of former governors. Gregg’s father, Hugh Gregg (R), was governor of New Hampshire in the 1950s, and Romney’s dad, George Romney (R), was Michigan governor in the 1960s.

The two appeared together on the steps of the New Hampshire statehouse — where Gregg once served as governor. According to an online account of the Union-Leader newspaper, Gregg expressed amazement that he’s endorsing someone from neighboring Massachusetts.

The Senator said he “never thought I’d endorse a governor of Massachusetts for anything, but I never thought the Red Sox would win the World Series twice in my lifetime, either.”

Gregg has a good track record in Republican presidential primaries, having backed the current President Bush in 2000 and his father, former President George H.W. Bush, in the 1988 White House primaries.

— Josh Kurtz