Here Are The Winners And Losers Of The New Hampshire Primary

Just over one week after an Iowa Caucus that went awry, New Hampshire went to the polls for the first true primary of the 2020 presidential election. On February 11th, New Hampshire voters cast their vote on who they wanted to be the party nominees for Republicans and Democrats come November. President Donald Trump is running for re-election and his only existing Republican primary competition is Bill Weld, who is not polling well. 

While the “true” winner of the Iowa Caucus is still up in the air, both Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg have claimed victory. Joe Biden, who has been considered the national frontrunner in many polls, placed fifth in Iowa. You can read more about the Iowa Caucus here. Just after the caucus, Democrats also held a debate, with seven candidates on the stage. 

Unlike Iowa, the New Hampshire primaries turned in results without too much hoopla. Something to note about this primary though is that it is “open” which means you don’t have to be committed to a particular party to vote in their primary. I, as a registered Republican, could ask for a Democrat ballot, and vice versa. I could also vote in either primary if I consider myself independent. The degree to which that influences the vote is always up for debate, but here’s how it shook out this year. 

Donald Trump easily won the Republican primary with almost 90% of the vote. 

Around 11 pm EST, with about 88% of precincts reporting, Bernie Sanders was officially projected to win by most news outlets. While Sanders was ahead in the total votes, he and Buttigieg are expected to get the same amount of New Hampshire’s 24 total delegates. Both received over 65,000 votes each. 

Here’s what the breakdown looked like around 11:30PM, with 90% of precincts reporting and not much expected to change. You can check an updated count here as more precincts roll in. 

Bernie Sanders–26% (9 delegates)

Pete Buttigieg–24.4% (9 delegates)

Amy Klobuchar–19.8% (6 delegates)

Elizabeth Warren–9.3% 

Joe Biden–8.4%

Tom Steyer–3.5%

Tulsi Gabbard–3.2%

Andrew Yang–2.8%

Late Tuesday evening, Andrew Yang and Michael Bennet both announced they were dropping out of the race. 

For a little historical context in New Hampshire.  Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton by over 20 points in the state’s primary in 2016. Ultimately, he was not the nominee. In 2012, Obama won easily in his re-election year. In 2008, Hillary Clinton beat eventual candidate Obama. The eventual party nominee for Democrats won in New Hampshire in 2004, 2000, 1996, and 1992. On the Republican end, Trump won New Hampshire in 2016 with 35% of the vote. Mitt Romney won in 2012,and John McCain won in 2008. McCain also won in 2000, when he ran for president but was ultimately edged out by eventual President George W Bush. 

So what’s next for this 2020 race? There’s another debate for Democrats on February 19th. The South Carolina primary is on February 29, 2020,and then it’s Super Tuesday, when several states will be holding primaries. By Super Tuesday,it is likely that more low-polling candidates will drop out and it’s also possible the “frontrunner” will shift once again.