Bernie Sanders wins New Hampshire primary, making him the new national frontrunner
- Sen. Bernie Sanders was projected to win the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday night with 26% of the vote as of 11 pm ET.
- Sanders has long had strong support in New Hampshire, which neighbors his home state of Vermont, and he swept the state's 2016 primary with 60% of the vote to Hillary Clinton's 38%.
- With Sanders neck-and-neck with former Mayor Pete Buttigieg in Iowa, he's emerged from the nation's first two 2020 contests as the new frontrunner as he also took an edge in national polling.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders was projected to win the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday night with 26% of the vote as of 11 pm ET.
He was followed by former Mayor Pete Buttigieg with about 24% of the vote and Sen. Amy Klobuchar with 20% of the vote.
Both former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren failed to reach the 15% support threshold they needed to win delegates.
See the full results of the New Hampshire Democratic primary
Polling in the days leading up to the primary showed Sanders with a lead over Buttigieg somewhere between one and seven percent. But Buttigieg gained on Sanders in the weeks prior to the primary, eating into former Vice President Joe Biden's support.
Sanders has long had strong support in New Hampshire, which neighbors his home state of Vermont, and he swept the state's 2016 primary with 60% of the vote to Hillary Clinton's 38%.
A CNN/UNH poll conducted last week showed Sanders with a commanding lead among self-described liberal primary voters and primary voters under the age of 35. Buttigieg was in the lead with primary voters who described themselves as moderate or conservative and those over the age of 65.
But the CNN poll also found that almost half of New Hampshire voters hadn't made up their mind on who they'd vote for just days before the primary.
This comes shortly after the chaos of the Iowa cau cases, where Buttigieg and Sanders remain neck-and-neck as recanvassing takes place.
The New Hampshire primary accounts for just 24 - or 0.6% of the total - pledged delegates, but it often signals the end of some number of candidates' campaigns.
No presidential nominee has ever placed below second in the New Hampshire primary.
Sanders' win on Tuesday gives him early momentum in the race and has made him the new frontrunner as he simultaneously took the lead for the first time in a national Quinnipiac poll on Monday.
The candidates' attacks on each other escalated sharply during the days between the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire race.
At a Democratic debate in Manchester, NH on Friday, several candidates, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, took pointed shots at Buttigieg, accusing the former mayor of being compromised by donations from billionaires, lacking experience for the job of president, and not owning up to his record on race relations in South Bend.
Biden released an ad on Saturday mocking Buttigieg's record as mayor and comparing his accomplishments in the Senate and in the Obama White House with the Midwesterner's far shorter and less broadly impactful achievements. And the former vice president repeatedly warned that nominating Sanders would alienate moderates and independents who are repelled by the senator's democratic socialism.
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- Amy Klobuchar is giving Pete Buttigieg a surprising run for his money in New Hampshire, setting up a critical rivalry for the rest of the race
- Elizabeth Warren is floundering in New Hampshire, set to earn 0 delegates as her campaign struggles in Bernie Sanders' shadow
- Joe Biden suffers blistering loss in New Hampshire, with the former frontrunner winning no delegates just a week after a disastrous Iowa caucus showing
- Andrew Yang drops out of the 2020 presidential race after a disappointing showing in Iowa and New Hampshire