Trump, Sanders prevail in New Hampshire primary

Published 9:59 am Wednesday, February 10, 2016

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders routed their rivals in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, avenging their Iowa losses to keep the mad scramble of the 2016 presidential campaign alive with dozens of contests to come.

Iowa winner Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio landed in a cluster, no better than third, depriving Republicans of a breakthrough performance that could have set up a strong moderate challenger to Trump. Second place went to Ohio Gov. John Kasich, an upbeat campaigner whose ability to run a strong national campaign is in question.

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders

It was a disappointing night both for Rubio and his tormentor in the latest Republican debate, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.

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Sanders, the independent socialist senator challenging Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, and Trump, the political neophyte and provocateur of the Republican race, tapped New Hampshire’s occasional indulgence in political insurgencies to prevail in the nation’s second contest for the nomination.

Together they are would-be slayers of the political establishment, and a loss for either one would have been potentially devastating to their hopes.

Instead, Trump put beef behind his braggadocio, and celebrated his solid victory by vowing anew that “I’m going to be the greatest jobs president” and “beat all of these countries that are taking so much of our money away from us.”

And Sanders was full of fire at his victory rally, declaring, “We have sent the message that will echo from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine to California, and that is that the government of our great country belongs to all of the people and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors and their super PACs.”

Still, Sanders, from Vermont, moves on to tougher territory in South Carolina, where Clinton has been favored and where a racially diverse population serves up an electorate that looks more like America than rural, small-town and mostly white Iowa and New Hampshire.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump

Trump, too, will be tested on whether he can run a truly national campaign, despite preference polls that find him on top, and whether he can unleash the organizational skills needed to slog toward the nomination state by state.

 

How Sanders won

Sanders attracted a broad coalition of New Hampshire voters, gathering a majority of votes from men, independents and voters under 45, as well as a slim majority of women, according to early exit polls conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and the television networks

The polls found that Clinton won the majority of those over 65 and those with incomes over $200,000 a year. The age gap first seen in Iowa, where younger voters backed Sanders and older ones, Clinton, appeared to be replicated to some extent in New Hampshire.

After conceding to Sanders, Clinton said she knows she has “some work to do, particularly with young people.”

The exit polls also suggested Clinton has a struggle being trusted and relating to average people.

Nearly half who voted in the Democratic primary said that between Sanders and Clinton, they thought only Sanders is honest and trustworthy. And just over 10 percent said that between the two, only Clinton shares their values.