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Joan E Greve in Nashua, New Hampshire

Bernie Sanders declares victory in New Hampshire primary – as it happened

Live political reporting continues in Wednesday’s blog:

New Hampshire primary summary

That’s it from me in Nashua tonight. Here’s how the New Hampshire primary shook out:

  • Bernie Sanders secured a narrow victory over Pete Buttigieg in the second voting state. With 85% of New Hampshire precincts reporting, Sanders currently leads Buttigieg by 1.4 points, capturing 25.8% of the vote. The victory will solidify Sanders’ status as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.
  • Amy Klobuchar surprised pundits with a strong third-place showing. The results currently indicate the Minnesota senator won nearly 20% of the vote, far exceeding expectations, but she will need to scale up her campaign operation quickly to replicate that success elsewhere.
  • It was a disappointing night for Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden, who appear to have failed to break into double digits in New Hampshire. Both candidates downplayed their defeats by looking ahead to the next voting states, but they will need to secure victories soon to reverse media narratives about their sinking electoral fortunes.
  • Two candidates, Andrew Yang and Michael Bennet, dropped out of the race after disappointing finishes, and Deval Patrick may similarly withdraw as soon as tomorrow. With the debacle of the Iowa caucuses behind them, Democrats are finally starting to narrow the field to a handful of candidates.

The live blog will return tomorrow morning for more coverage of the election and fallout from Trump’s impeachment, so tune back in for that. And thanks for following our coverage of the New Hampshire primary.

Because of the close margin tonight between Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, it appears the two candidates will each win eight New Hampshire delegates for the national convention.

Combined with the Iowa results, Buttigieg’s performance tonight gives him a slight edge in the delegate count.

Buttigieg has currently won 23 delegates compared to Sanders’ 21. Elizabeth Warren is then a distant third with eight delegates, while Amy Klobuchar has seven and Joe Biden stands in fifth with six delegates.

But to demonstrate how long the road ahead is, any candidate will need 1,991 delegates to win the nomination.

AP confirms Sanders' New Hampshire victory

The Associated Press has officially confirmed that Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primary.

With 84% of New Hampshire precincts reporting, Sanders currently leads Pete Buttigieg by 1.4 points, capturing 25.8% of the vote.

But there will also be much talk of Amy Klobuchar’s third-place finish after the Minnesota senator far exceeded expectations by hitting close to 20%, according to the most recent results.

That was a canny not-quite-victory speech from Pete Buttigieg, drawing a battleline with Bernie Sanders - and repositioning his candidacy for the contests ahead.

When he said it made no sense to risk another four years of Donald Trump for the sake of “ideological purity” and that “We must get this right”, he was directly targeting those Democrats who might like Sanders’ positions, but fear he would lose to the current president.


More striking was the former South Bend mayor’s attempt to pivot to the blocs of voters he must now win over if he is to progress. Mindful that he has been polling at close to zero among people of colour, he peppered his speech with nods to the concerns of the voters who will determine the outcome of the next two rounds of voting, in Nevada and South Carolina.

There was a line of Spanish aimed at the Latinx voters who will be decisive in the first-in-the-west contest in a state Buttigieg said represented “the future”, and several attempts to reflect the concerns of African-Americans - a huge part of the electorate in South Carolina - as he denounced voter suppression and racial bias in the health, education and criminal justice systems. There was also an allusion to the Black Lives Matter movement as he spoke of the “young man who fears for his safety in the lights of a police vehicle.”

Missing from the speech was even a coded attack on his immediate opponent: Amy Klobuchar, third placed in New Hampshire and now battling him for dominance in the so-called moderate lane of this contest. That duel will come soon enough.

Updated

New Hampshire turnout on track to match 2008

As the last of the New Hampshire results trickle in, turnout in the second voting state appears on track to match or exceed that of 2008, when nearly 288,000 people participated in the Democratic primary.

Those numbers will please Democratic strategists, who expressed fear that the lower-than-expected turnout in the Iowa caucuses signaled declining energy among the party’s grassroots.

With his victory tonight, combined with his strong showing in Iowa, Bernie Sanders solidifies his status as the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Vermont senator is also expected to turn in a solid performance in Nevada, which will hold its caucuses next Saturday.

However, Sanders is facing some resistance on that front. Specifically, the influential Culinary Union that represents 60,000 workers in Nevada has started distributing a flyer warning Sanders would “end” their very popular healthcare plan.

Bernie Sanders closed his remarks to supporters in Manchester by looking ahead to the next contests.

“It is not just about beating Trump; it is about transforming this country,” Sanders said as he wrapped up.

“It’s on to Nevada. It’s on to South Carolina. It’s on to win the Democratic nomination.”

Sanders says victory is 'the beginning of the end of Donald Trump'

Shortly after declaring victory in the New Hampshire primary, Bernie Sanders addressed his supporters in Manchester.

As the results dribbled in, the swaggering confidence that emanated from the arena earlier in the night gave way to tense nail-biting when it looked, momentarily, like Pete Buttigieg could eclipse him.

But the result was called shortly after 11pm EST and the crowd erupted in applause and chanting, reminiscent of Sanders’ 2016 victory here.

“Power to the people” blared as Sanders took the stage at a sports arena with his family and tried unsuccessfully to quiet the crowd for several minutes.

“Let me take this opportunity to thank the people of New Hampshire for a great victory tonight,” he said after sustained cheers.

“This victory here is the beginning of the end of Donald Trump,” he roared, as his supporters burst into a chant of “Bernie beats Trump.”

Sanders declares victory in the New Hampshire primary

Bernie Sanders has delcared victory in the New Hampshire primary, as results show he has secured a narrow lead over Pete Buttigieg.

With 77% of New Hampshire precincts reporting, Sanders is currently at 25.8% compared to Buttigieg’s 24.2%.

Meanwhile, over at Bernie Sanders’ primary night rally, his supporters jeered Pete Buttigieg as CNN carried the former mayor’s remarks.

Buttigieg congratulates Sanders before implictly criticizing him

Pete Buttigieg has taken the stage at his primary night rally in Nashua, New Hampshire, to celebrate his likely second-place finish tonight.

Buttigieg opened by congratulating his opponents on their performances. “I admired Senator Sanders when I was a high school student, I respect him greatly to this day, and I congratulate him on his strong showing tonight,” Buttigieg said.

“And I want to congratulate Senator Klobuchar, Senator Warren, Vice President Biden and all of our Democratic candidates and supporters.”

However, Buttigieg then offered a thinly veiled criticism of Sanders that he has repeated on the campaign trail this week, saying voters should not have to choose between “revolution” or the “status quo.”

“Most Americans don’t see where they fit in that polarizing vision,” Buttigieg said.

Despite her own disappointing finish in New Hampshire, Tulsi Gabbard is showing no signs of calling it quits, instead saying she will go on to South Carolina, which will hold its primary at the end of the month.

With nearly 70% of New Hampshire precincts reporting, Gabbard is hitting 3.2%, despite skipping campaigning in Iowa to focus on the second voting state.

Deval Patrick will reportedly suspend campaign tomorrow

Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor who launched a late bid for the Democratic nomination, intends to suspend his campaign tomorrow, according to CBS News.

Patrick staked his campaign on his performance in New Hampshire, hoping his name recognition as a former governor from a neighboring state would attract supporters. But with 67% of New Hampshire precincts reporting, Patrick is currently only at 0.4%.

Supporters gathered at Pete Buttigieg’s primary night rally in Nashua are celebrating as the results show Bernie Sanders’ lead narrowing.

Trump is clearly keeping a close eye on the New Hampshire results, mocking Pete Buttigieg’s name even as he acknowledged the former Indiana mayor is “doing pretty well” over “Crazy Bernie” tonight.

With 65% of New Hampshire precincts reporting, Bernie Sanders’ lead over Buttigieg has narrowed to 2.2 points.

Trump is now criticizing the performance of Michael Bloomberg, whose name did not appear on the New Hampshire ballot.

Bloomberg’s campaign strategy centers on the states that will vote on Super Tuesday, when the greatest number of delegates will be awarded.

With 59% of New Hampshire precincts, Bernie Sanders leads Pete Buttigieg by 2.1 points. The Vermont senator is at 26%, and the former Indiana mayor is at 23.9%.

A New Hampshire victory for Sanders will solidify his frontrunner status in the nominating contest, but the margin is a little closer than polls had predicted.

Going into tonight, Sanders led the RealClearPolitics average of New Hampshire polls by more than 7 points, so his team had hoped for a larger advantage than we are currently seeing.

Klobuchar celebrates likely third-place finish

Amy Klobuchar has just addressed a room of fired-up supporters in Concord, hailing her likely third-place finish and promising to “take this message of unity to the country”.

“My heart is full tonight,” Klobuchar told the crowd of about 400 people.

“While there are still ballots left to count, we have beaten the odds every step of the way.”

The Minnesota senator had languished in polling for months before Tuesday, and finished fifth in Iowa, but is set to finish comfortably ahead of the better-known, and better-funded, Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden.

“We have done it on the merits, we have done it on ideas, and we have done it with hard work,” she told supporters.

“Because of you we are taking this campaign to Nevada. We are going to South Carolina and we are taking this message of unity to the country.”

With Biden again turning in an anemic result in New Hampshire, his centrist voters are increasingly there for the taking. Until now Pete Buttigieg has been the main benefactor, but Klobuchar, another moderate, will be hoping to sweep up more voters in the weeks to come. She touted her ability to appeal beyond Democrats in her speech.

“Donald Trump’s worst nightmare is that the people in the middle, the people who have had enough of the name calling, and the mud-slinging, have someone to vote for in November,” Klobuchar said.

“I cannot wait to win the nomination and I cannot wait to build a movement, and win with a movement, of fired up Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans.”

Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren, both of whom are underperforming tonight, have tried to convey their disappointing finishes as only the start of a long primary.

However, past nominating contests have shown that momentum from the early voting states is key to ensuring success on Super Tuesday, when the greatest number of delegates are awarded.

Biden and Warren will need to exceed expectations in the next voting states of Nevada and South Carolina to change the narrative about their sinking electoral fortunes.

Trump has sent his second insulting tweet of the night directed at one of the Democratic presidential candidates.

In this case, Trump mocked the performances so far of Tom Steyer, who gained national prominence by calling for the president’s impeachment two years before the launch of the House inquiry this fall.

Earlier tonight, Trump similarly scoffed at Elizabeth Warren’s performance in New Hampshire, saying the Massachusetts senator was having a “really bad night.”

Biden in South Carolina: 'We are just getting started'

Addressing supporters in South Carolina, Joe Biden shrugged off his disappointing showing in New Hampshire, where he is currently in fifth place.

“We need to hear from Nevada and South Carolina and Super Tuesday states and beyond,” Biden said. “It ain’t over, man. We’re just getting started.”

Biden’s campaign manager echoed that sentiment over Twitter:

However, Biden’s back-to-back disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire could make some of his supporters, including African-American Democrats, question whether he is capable of defeating Trump.

Some polls indicate black voters are already drifting away from Biden after he finished in fourth place in the Iowa caucuses, so he will need a strong performance in next week’s Nevada caucuses to shift the narrative.

Trump tweets insult at Warren

As the New Hampshire results show Elizabeth Warren in fourth place, Trump insulted the Massachusetts senator, saying she is having a “really bad night” and once again referring to her as “Pocahontas.”

Tom Steyer just released a statement to make clear that he is definitely not dropping out of the race, despite a previous false report to the contrary:

Just as we saw in Iowa last week, tonight’s results from New Hampshire show that the race for the Democratic nomination is wide open. Until Nevada and South Carolina have the chance to vote, we won’t know which candidates can build the diverse and unified coalition we need to win in November.

To beat Donald Trump, we need to expose him as a fraud and failure on the economy, and we need to build a diverse, national coalition. I believe the candidates who do well in Nevada and South Carolina will head into Super Tuesday with the proven ability to build such a diverse coalition.

Steyer had a disappointing finish in Iowa, and he is currently registering at 3.3% in New Hampshire, but he has been polling in the double digits in both Nevada and South Carolina.

Biden looks ahead to general election as New Hampshire results disappoint

Joe Biden addressed supporters at his primary night event in New Hampshire via livestream, as the former vice president campaigned in South Carolina.

With 30% of New Hampshire precincts reporting, Biden is only registering at 8%, but the former vice president shook off that result and looked ahead to the next voting states.

“Now we are moving on Nevada and South Carolina and beyond, beyond,” Biden told a small group of his supporters gathered in Nashua. “We’ll see you in the general.”

Tom Steyer still in the race, despite false report

Despite a previous report to the contrary, billionaire activist Tom Steyer has not dropped out of the presidential primary.

With 28% of New Hampshire precincts reporting, Steyer is currently registering at 3% after a disappointing showing in Iowa, but the candidate’s press secretary said he was not dropping out of the race.

Correction: A previous version of this post cited an incorrect report that Steyer had dropped out of the race.

Updated

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren will not be able to break into the top three tonight.

Biden has spent the week since the Iowa caucuses lowering expectations for his performance in New Hampshire, insisting his campaign will take off once voting reaches more racially diverse states like Nevada and South Carolina.

However, it will still be difficult for him to explain his performance if he cannot reach double digits.

Still, tonight’s results in New Hampshire might be even harder to spin for Elizabeth Warren, a senator from neighboring Massachusetts.

Warren had climbed to the top of New Hampshire polls in the fall, and her disappointing performance will almost certainly spark questions about what path she now has to the nomination.

A bit more on Michael Bennet: the Colorado senator’s departure from the primary is far from surprising, considering he has not participated in a debate since July and was registering around 0% in national polls.

But Bennet, who focused his campaign efforts on New Hampshire, recently told CNN that he wanted to see the primary through before dropping out.

In a sign of how terribly this night is going for Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren, neither candidate is expected to win any delegates from New Hampshire.

Michael Bennet drops out

Tonight’s New Hampshire primary has claimed its second victim: Colorado senator Michael Bennet.

Echoing Andrew Yang, Bennet said he would suspend his campaign after a disappointing finish in New Hampshire, where he needed a standout performance.

With nearly 17% of the New Hampshire vote in, Bennet was registering at less than 1%.

Addressing supporters in Manchester, Andrew Yang said the numbers were not there for him to claim a path to the nomination, calling his decision to drop out “bitterly disappointing.”

Yang said he would support the eventual Democratic nominee and expressed hope that his campaign had offered “caution and guidance” on how to confront Trump.

Warren congratulates Sanders and Buttigieg on their 'strong nights'

Elizabeth Warren came out a few moment ago and said it was “clear” that it was a good night for Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg. Warren also said she wanted to congratulate Amy Klobuchar on her campaign’s resilience.

“The question for us Democrats is whether it will be a long bitter rehash of the same old bitter fights or whether we can find another way,” Warren said.

Warren went on to say “our campaign is best” equipped to “beat Donald Trump in November because we can unite this party.”

“But if we’re going to defeat Donald Trump in November we’re going to need huge turnout in our party, and if we’re going to get that turnout, we will need a nominee that the broad coalition of our party can get behind. We cannot afford to fall into factions. We cannot afford to squander our collective power. We win when we come together.”

Updated

They cheered as if they’d won. At the Pete Buttigieg “primary night rally” - no one calls them victory parties any more - in Nashua, supporters whooped as the giant TV screens broadcast a set of exit poll numbers that projected not an outright win for their man, but a finding they believe could carry him to the Democratic nomination.

Supporters of Pete Buttigieg watch poll results in Nashua, N.H.
Supporters of Pete Buttigieg watch poll results in Nashua, N.H. Photograph: Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

On the screen were the answers New Hampshire Democrats had given to the question of “Who can beat Trump?” Top of that poll was Buttigieg, favoured by 27%, ahead of Amy Klobuchar at 21% and Bernie Sanders at 19%. That validates what will be the former mayor’s core argument in the coming days: that he has the ability to oust the current president - which polls say is the number one quality Democrats are seeking from their nominee.

Among those cheering was Cheri Mehigan Foley, 46, who lives and works in neighboring Massachusetts. “That’s what we’re looking for, a candidate who can beat Trump. I feel like if you put him in a room with Trump and they went head-to-head, he’d just win. He’s smarter.”

Updated

As the early New Hamsphire results indicate Amy Klobuchar is exceeding expectations in the second voting state, the Minnesota senator is already looking ahead to Nevada, which will hold its caucuses next Saturday.

There’s excitement at Amy Klobuchar’s primary night event in Concord, where TV screens are showing her running a close third behind Pete Buttigieg.

Five-year-old Lucy Breitbarth-Guidi, having chosen to wear a green dress to match Klobuchar’s green campaign signage, is particularly enthusiastic, as is her mother, Jenna Breitbarth-Guidi. Breitbarth-Guidi, 30, was a registered Republican until Trump became the party’s nominee in 2016. No longer.

“Having girls, I just couldn’t bring myself to vote for him,” she said of Trump. “Access Hollywood” was the reason, Breitbarth-Guidi added. Still, she said she will not vote for any Democratic nominee come November.

“I would campaign for Amy. But there’s other ones who I would probably vote third party,” Breitbarthi-Guidi said. She mentioned Bernie Sanders in particular.

“I just feel like we have had enough divisiveness,” Breitbarth-Guidi said. “[Sanders’ support] is like an army, it scares me. It feels similar to the other side, they’re just smarter.”

A plus for Breitbarth-Guidi is that she believes Klobuchar can appeal to Republicans and independents.

“All of my family are big Trump supporters and every one of them said they would take a second look at Amy. That says everything,” Breitbarth-Guidi said.

Andrew Yang drops out

Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who based his campaign around universal basic income, plans to drop out of the presidential race.

Andrew Yang speaks at the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner in Manchester, N.H.
Andrew Yang speaks at the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner in Manchester, N.H. Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

Yang hit 1% in the Iowa caucuses, and he needed a standout performance in New Hampshire tonight to keep his candiacy alive.

However, Yang is currently registering at 2.8%, and the candidate told reporters that he no longer sees a path to the nomination.

“I am a numbers guy,” Yang told reporters in Manchester. “In most of these [upcoming] states, I’m not going to be at a threshold where I get delegates, which makes sticking around not necessarily helpful or productive in terms of furthering the goals of this campaign.”

Although he was considered a long-shot candidate, Yang qualified for more debates than many more “establishment” candidates like Democratic senator Cory Booker and former housing secretary Julián Castro. Yang also becomes the latest candidate of color to drop out of an increasingly white primary race.

New Hampshire polls close

It is 8 pm ET, so all of the polling places across New Hampshire have officially closed.

So far, Bernie Sanders leads Pete Buttigieg by several points, but the biggest surprise yet has been the strength of Amy Klobuchar, who is on Buttigieg’s heels in third place.

Perhaps the second-bigggest surprise of the night so far is the poor performances of both Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden, who are distantly trailing in fourth and fifth place.

Warren and Biden will need their numbers to improve with later results, or they face the risk of ending in single digits.

Here’s where the New Hampshire results stand with 10% of the vote in, but some polls are still open for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, over at Joe Biden’s New Hampshire primary night party, which will not include an appearance by the former vice president, a couple of his supporters enjoyed a drink in an otherwise empty ballroom.

Results are starting to trickle in, and even though the overwhelming majority of precincts still need to report results, it is currently looking like it could be a tough evening for Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren.

Tulsi Gabbard, another Democratic presidential candidate who needs a standout performance tonight, is visiting voters in Nashua, where polls will remain open for another half hour.

Gabbard effectively skipped campaigning in the first voting state of Iowa to focus her efforts on New Hampshire, so a poor showing tonight could force her to drop out of the race.

First New Hampshire results indicate Klobuchar momentum

A precinct from the New Hampshire capital of Concord has started reporting results, and they indicate that recent signs of momentum for Amy Klobuchar could be confirmed tonight.

During the Friday debate, Klobuchar presented herself as a younger moderate with the experience that Pete Buttigieg lacks, and that strategy could now be paying dividends.

Biden leaves New Hampshire as his team lowers expectations

As the top presidential candidates prepare for their primary night rallies in New Hampshire, Joe Biden is conspicuously missing in action.

Biden, who has spent the week since the Iowa caucuses downplaying expectations for his performance in New Hampshire, instead traveled to South Carolina for a campaign event.

Biden has said the next two voting states, Nevada and South Carolina, will be the launching pad for his candidacy, but national polls already indicate he has taken a hit from his poor showing in Iowa.

If he trails other moderates like Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar tonight, Biden will face fresh questions about whether he is actually the most “electable” candidate, as he has claimed.

Updated

Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who has signaled in recent days that the future of his candidacy depends on the results in New Hampshire, thanked his supporters as most of the state’s polls closed.

Yang hit only 1% in the Iowa caucuses, and he is depending on the New Hampshire primary to make it to the later voting states, but recent polls have shown his support to be in the low single digits.

Most New Hampshire polls close

It is 7 pm ET, so most New Hampshire polls have now closed, although a few polling locations will remain open for another hour.

Depending on the results, it could be a relatively early night -- especially in comparison to the days-long debacle that was the reporting of results for the Iowa caucuses.

In 2016, when Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton by more than 20 points, the AP declared him to be the winner of the New Hampshire primary at 8 pm ET.

Given the high number of New Hampshire primary voters who said they made up their minds in the past few days and factored Friday’s debate into their decision, Amy Klobuchar could be poised to exceed expectations tonight.

After the debate, Klobuchar won widespread praise for presenting herself as a middle lane between a longtime Washington insider like Joe Biden and a “political newcomer” like Pete Buttigieg for more moderate Democrats.

Many polling places across New Hampshire will close in about 20 minutes, but a few small towns across the Granite State have already had their ballots counted.

Selectman Les Otten casts the first ballot of the New Hampshire primary in Dixville Notch, N.H.
Selectman Les Otten casts the first ballot of the New Hampshire primary in Dixville Notch, N.H. Photograph: Paul Hayes/AP

Dixville Notch, Hart’s Location and Millsfield have a tradition of midnight voting for the New Hampshire primary, and this year’s results from those three towns raised some eyebrows.

Among Democratic voters in Dixville Notch, Michael Bloomberg, who is not actually on the New Hampshire ballot, won the most support after two of the town’s residents wrote in the billionaire candidate’s name. (A Republican voter in the town also wrote in Bloomberg’s name.)

In the other two towns, Minnesota senatorAmy Klobuchar won the most support, collecting six votes from Hart’s Location and two from Millsfield. Needless to say, it will likely be difficult for Klobuchar to maintain that early lead once more results start coming in.

Sanders faces high expectations of a New Hampshire victory

Bernie Sanders is considered the clear favorite to win tonight’s New Hampshire primary, as most polls show the senator of neighboring Vermont leading the field.

Bernie Sanders meets with people outside a polling place in Manchester, N.H.
Bernie Sanders meets with people outside a polling place in Manchester, N.H. Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

According to the RealClearPolitics average, Sanders stands at 28.7% with New Hampshire’s likely primary voters, compared to Pete Buttigieg’s 21.3%. Amy Klobuchar trails at 11.7%, although the most recent polls have shown her support increasing after her Friday debate performance, and Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren are slightly trailing at 11%.

If Sanders wins tonight, it will solidify his position as the frontrunner in the race after his impressive finish in Iowa, where he fought Buttigieg to a near-tie. National polls released since the Iowa caucuses have shown Sanders surpassing Biden, who has consistently led in those surveys since entering the race.

But Sanders is also facing high expectations going into tonight, which could backfire. In 2016, he defeated Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary by more than 20 points. It’s extremely unlikely he will enjoy a similar margin tonight, considering the high number of candidates, and the margin of his potential victory will be closely scrutinized for signs of how strong his support is.

However, there’s no question that a win in New Hampshire will fortify Sanders’ standing among Democrats who are desperate to find a candidate capable of defeating Trump.

Here are some more numbers from the NBC News exit poll in New Hampshire:

  • More than 60% of Democratic voters said they would rather have a nominee who can defeat Trump than one who agrees with them on the issues.
  • Less than a quarter of Democratic voters believe Trump’s impeachment has hurt his chances at reelection.
  • Nearly two-thirds of Republican voters said Trump’s impeachment has helped his reelection chances.

Although polls indicate Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg are the ones to beat in New Hampshire, the results tonight could still surprise us. According to early exit polls, about half of primary voters said they made their decision in the past few days.

New Hampshire primary offers 2020 Democrats a clean slate after Iowa debacle

Greetings from Nashua, live blog readers!

New Hampshire Democrats have been casting ballots all day to determine who they want to have face off against Donald Trump in November, giving presidential candidates their first chance to secure a victory since the disastrous Iowa caucuses last week.

The polls at the Fairgrounds Middle School in Nashua, New Hampshire.
The polls at the Fairgrounds Middle School in Nashua, New Hampshire. Photograph: Faith Ninivaggi/Reuters

Because New Hampshire holds a primary rather than caucuses, it is much less likely that the state will suffer a days-long delay in releasing results, as Iowa did. In 2016, for instance, Trump and Bernie Sanders were declared the winners of the New Hampshire primary shortly after polls closed.

Heading into today’s primary, Sanders, a senator from neighboring Vermont, is once again the favorite to win, with Pete Buttigieg trailing him by several points in most polls.

Amy Klobuchar seems to be picking up more New Hampshire support since her widely praised debate performance on Friday, while Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren are hoping for a surprise tonight as their polling numbers have slumped in recent days.

The New Hampshire polls close at 7 pm ET or 8 pm ET, depending on the municipality, so we will soon see where the chips fell. Stay tuned.

Updated

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