I think the field has more conservatives in it at this point than 2008, thus Romney recieved less votes as Santorum and Newt were options.
As far as LDS voting for Reid, Lincoln county is 70% LDS and only 23% of the voters in Lincoln voted for Reid over Angle, who got 67% of the vote. If Reid would have had an R after his name he might have got 90% +.
Freegards