US election 2016: New Hampshire primary key for Trump, Sanders
Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have decisively won today’s presidential primaries in New Hampshire, riding a wave of anti-establishment anger in the second key test of the long, unpredictable race for the White House.
Major US networks were quick to give the Republican Trump and the self-described democratic socialist Sanders the win, confirming a deflating if expected defeat for Hillary Clinton, who put a brave face on the loss and admitted she had some work to do as the campaign moves south.
On the Republican side, Ohio Governor John Kasich staked an early claim to second place, a potentially critical result for him as the GOP works out which mainstream candidate could successfully mount a challenge against the billionaire tycoon.
HOW THE DAY UNFOLDED
2.20pm: Trump is basking in his victory and says that America under his leadership will “start winning again.” Trump is telling supporters that he’ll be the “greatest jobs president God ever created.” He’s promising that if he’s commander in chief, he’ll “knock the hell” out of the Islamic State group and negotiate what he says would be better trade deals.
A Trump presidency, he says, would mean “nobody is going to mess with us”.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump thanks his daughter Ivanka Trump after Primary day at his election night watch party. Credit: AFP
2pm: Jeb Bush’s campaign doesn’t think much of rival John Kasich’s second-place showing in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary.
Kasich finished behind Donald Trump. Bush — a former Florida governor — is in a close race with two senators — Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida — for third.
Bush spokesman Tim Miller says Kasich “ran a one-state campaign” in New Hampshire and doesn’t have “a viable path” to the nomination.
1.45pm: Bernie Sanders has given a triumphant victory speech after defeating Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire’s Democratic presidential primary, saying the win showed that voters were seeking “real change.”
“What the people here have said is that given the enormous crises facing our country, it is just too late for the same old, same old establishment politics and establishment economics,” Sanders told supporters.
New Hampshire Primary
1.30pm: The fight goes on for Hillary Clinton. Even after losing to Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Clinton is promising to take her fight for the nomination to the rest of the country.
And if she feels spurned by New Hampshire voters, she’s not showing it to supporters in Hooksett, New Hampshire.
She tells them: “I still love New Hampshire, and I always will.”
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks as former President Bill Clinton applauds. Credit: AP Photo/Elise Amendola
1.05pm: Donald Trump will now take the lead in the race for delegates for the Republican National Convention. It won’t be much of a lead.
There are only 23 delegates at stake in New Hampshire’s Republican primary, and they are awarded proportionally, based on the statewide vote.
Trump will win at least nine. The final tally depends on how many candidates get more than 10 per cent of the vote, the threshold needed to qualify for delegates.
Trump started the night trailing Ted Cruz by one delegate.
12.45pm: Early exit polls showed Trump drew support from voters looking for an outsider and from those who made up their minds a while ago. Among Democrats, Sanders, who narrowly lost in Iowa, had maintained a sizeable advantage over Clinton in New Hampshire for weeks. He has appealed to liberal Democrats who believe Obama hasn’t done enough to address the nation’s disparity in wealth.
12.35pm: A big victory for Donald Trump in New Hampshire, a big victory celebration for the billionaire businessman.
When word came just that Trump was declared the winner, his supporters at campaign headquarters in Manchester shouted his name and they waved foam fingers emblazoned with the phrase, “You’re Hired.”
12.30pm: Bernie Sanders’ victory in New Hampshire means he’s assured of a majority of the state’s pledged delegates.
With 24 at stake, Sanders stands to gain at least 13. Hillary Clinton will receive at least seven.
Clinton remains ahead in the overall delegate count due to support from superdelegates — the party officials who can support the candidate of their choice.
Including superdelegates nationwide, Clinton has amassed at least 392 delegates and Sanders at least 42.
The magic number to clinch the nomination is 2,382.
Supporters of US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders cheer watching the result on television. Credit: AFP / Jewel Samad
12.20pm: With Trump’s victory, attention will shift to the runners-up in the race. Several candidates needed a strong finish to ensure the survival of their campaigns.
Marco Rubio, a 44-year-old Florida senator, hoped to build on a solid third-place finish in Iowa and brush off a rocky performance in last weekend’s Republican debate. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have spent most of their time in the state in recent weeks and needed to show voters, as well as crucial financial donors, that they’re viable candidates.
12.10pm: The New Hampshire primary winners are Donald Trump on the Republican side and Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race, according to Associated Press. Each took the top spot after second-place finishes in the Iowa caucuses.
Trump’s first victory of the 2016 White House race means he’s no longer a political rookie but the frontrunner for his party’s presidential nomination.
And the win for Sanders completes his rise from presidential long shot to legitimate challenger for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton.
12.05pm: New Hampshire’s secretary of state says voter turnout in today’s presidential primary is likely to be slightly higher than in 2008.
Bill Gardner predicted several days ago that roughly 282,000 Republican ballots cast would be and 268,000 Democratic ballots cast.
He says his visits to various polling places Tuesday lead him to believe his predictions are on par.
What’s at stake
Nearly half of the voters in the Republican primary in New Hampshire are saying they made up their mind in the last week. On the Democratic side? More than half say they decided before that. The findings are among some of the early results of the exit poll conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and the television networks.
What’s at stake on the delegate front in the New Hampshire primary? For Democrats, 24 delegates are up for grabs. On the GOP side, it’s 23.
The GOP count after the Iowa caucuses: eight for Ted Cruz, and seven each for Donald Trump and Marco Rubio. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination. Hillary Clinton holds a big delegate lead, mainly due to on endorsements from superdelegates. Those are the party officials who can support the candidate of their choice.
Clinton has 385 delegates and Bernie Sanders has 29. It takes 2,382 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump visits a polling station as voters cast their primary day ballots. Credit: Getty
Trump is revisiting some past controversies as he greets voters in Manchester.
At Webster Elementary School, Trump was asked by a man who identified himself as a Muslim journalist about Trump’s proposal to temporarily bar foreign Muslims from entering the U.S.
Trump brought up the ban again when asked by a foreign outlet outside the Northwest Elementary School whether he would maintain the country’s relationship with Britain.
“When I talked about the ban,” Trump says, “I received literally million and millions of responses all over the world from that. And the people in the U.K. were so incredible to me.” He added: “They happen to agree with me. There are a lot of problems right now and I know how to solve them.”
Momentum for winners
Trump leads the Republican field in the country’s first primary, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tries to establish himself as the chief rival to Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
In the two-person race for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Senator Sanders has an advantage over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire after his narrow second-place finish in Iowa last week. He must win to have a chance of staying competitive with the former secretary of state and first lady as the race moves to more diverse states.
Clinton vowed to “keep working until the last vote is cast and counted.”
The New Hampshire primary gives momentum to the winners heading into the next contests in South Carolina and Nevada as candidates race to pick up delegates for their parties’ nominating conventions. Those who fare poorly could see donations dry up and face pressure to withdraw from the race.
While critics also argue that New Hampshire is too small and too white to play such a major role in picking presidents, its defenders say the country is well-served because the primary requires close contact with voters, not just name-recognition or advertising cash.
In the last 10 elections, the winner of the Republican primary in New Hampshire went on to become the eventual nominee eight times; on the Democratic side, seven winners went on to become nominees.
The first ballots were cast early in the tiny town of Dixville. Sanders won over all four Democratic voters in the town, while Ohio Gov. John Kasich sneaked past Trump, 3-2, among Republicans.
State law requires polls to be open between 3am (AEDT) and 11am (AEDT). About 20 remain open until 12pm (AEDT).
