Feb. 10--REPORTING FROM MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Billionaire businessman Donald Trump won the New Hampshire Republican primary Tuesday with an unconventional brew of celebrity, voter anger and disdain for the traditional rules of politics.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a veteran politician who has delivered an upbeat conservative message at odds with Trump and most of the other candidates, won second place.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, polar opposites on the campaign trail, appeared in a close race for third place, showing the continuing volatility of the race.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio trailed behind them but was in striking distance with about 67% of the precincts reporting.
"Wowww, wow, wow, wow!" Trump said as he addressed supporters at his victory party. "So beautiful, so beautiful."
The crowd alternately chanted "U-S-A!" and "Trump!" as the candidate described his success and promised to restore American greatness, which he said had been stolen by other countries.
"We are going to do something so good and so fast and so strong, and the world is going to respect us again," he said. "Believe me."
He promised to be the "greatest jobs president that God ever created."
Kasich, who had staked his White House bid on doing well in New Hampshire, grinned broadly when he addressed his supporters.
"There's magic in the air with this campaign," he said.
"You just wait," he said. "There's so much happening, if you don't have a seat belt, go get one!"
Rubio, who had hoped for a stronger finish here, acknowledged that voters had not forgiven his shaky performance in a GOP debate over the weekend.
"It's on me," Rubio told supporters. "I did not do well on Saturday night. That will never happen again."
Cruz cast his showing as a victory over the expectations of "the talking heads and the Washington insiders," predicting his standing would improve among South Carolina's more conservative electorate.
"The real winner is the conservative grass-roots," he said.
A roar of cheers erupted at Trump's election-night party when CNN projected him the winner shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m. The Associated Press and TV networks also projected a Trump victory based on exit polls and early returns showing he had a large lead.
Over and over, the crowd of hundreds chanted, "Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump!"
Several contenders fought to show they are the top alternative to Trump, an unconventional candidate who has fueled his lead in national polls, in part, by attacking both the Democratic and Republican establishments.
Trump was given virtually no chance of winning the nomination when he declared his candidacy last summer.
The New York real estate developer was widely derided by opponents for his crude language, harsh views on immigrants and women, and personal attacks on rival candidates.
But GOP voters rallied to his side almost from the start, and the brash businessman with no political experience soon surged higher in the polls -- increasing his lead nearly every time he broke with political convention.
"The silent majority is very angry," said Donna Horvit, 58, a retired food business owner who lives in Londonderry and attended Trump's victory rally Tuesday night. Voters are "looking for a refreshing non-politician politician, if you know what I mean."
Voters stood in long lines at polling places all day Tuesday to register their favorites in the fiercely contested primary. Some polls remained open an extra hour to accommodate the large crowds.
Exit polls conducted by a consortium of television networks and the Associated Press showed 9 of 10 Republican voters were either dissatisfied with the federal government or downright angry.
And 48% of those polled said they were more eager for an outsider to lead them, more than the 47% who said experience was a priority.
And in perhaps the biggest blow to the establishment, only 1 in 10 Republican voters ranked electability as the top quality they were seeking in a nominee.
Trump's priorities ruled the day, according to preliminary exit surveys: two-thirds of New Hampshire's Republican voters said they favored a temporary ban on Muslims, a polarizing policy espoused by Trump.
Trump had been favored to bounce back from his second-place finish in the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses. But the outcome was never certain.
Nearly half of Republican voters, 46%, made up their minds in just the last few days, according to exit polls.
September Hoeler confessed to being a bit overwhelmed as she arrived Tuesday morning at her polling place in Bedford. "It's going to be eeny-meeny-miny-moe," said the 58-year-old Republican.
In addition to Kasich, Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie virtually staked their entire campaigns on New Hampshire. Kasich and Christie in particular devoted the overwhelming majority of their time and resources to winning over Granite State voters.
The number of delegates at stake -- 23 -- is a tiny fraction of the 1,237 needed to win the Republican nomination.
The import of the primary here rests on the momentum it will deliver to the candidates seen as winners and the blow suffered by those who finish far back or otherwise fail to perform up to expectations.
Cruz looked forward to more hospitable terrain in South Carolina, the next state on the GOP primary calendar and one with a large number of Christian conservatives.
Meanwhile, others in the field were counting for a boost from New Hampshire to sustain them.
Rubio had potentially the most to gain and lose Tuesday, having come out of Iowa well positioned after a stronger-than-expected third-place finish, suggesting he could be the candidate the party establishment rallies behind.
Then came Saturday night's debate, in which he come under withering assault for mechanically repeating over and over the same lines from his campaign stump speech. Christie and others seized on his shaky performance to question his preparedness for the presidency.
Democrats happily joined in piling on. As Rubio dropped by a series of polling places Tuesday, he was trailed by two Democratic operatives made up to look like robots.
As Rubio's support appeared to falter Tuesday night, supporters who gathered at a Radisson ballroom in Manchester appeared downcast.
"We were hoping for a strong second," said Peter Heed, 65, a lawyer and former district attorney from Keene. "It's going to be tough now.
"I've never seen him stumble like that," he added. "I think that hurt. Talking to a few people I know, they just said, 'What happened? What happened?'"
Barabak reported from Manchester and Bierman from Washington. Times staff writers Michael Finnegan and Chris Megerian in New Hampshire and Kurtis Lee in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
