2016 New Hampshire Primary Results: Voters Swamp Polls

CONCORD, NH - Voters in New Hampshire gave a fiery rebuke of the establishment of both major political parties by delivering decisive wins to renegade candidates in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary on Feb. 9, 2016.

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump, R-NY, and self-proclaimed democratic socialist U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, easily bested their opponents by solid margins in what is expected to be one of the largest turnouts in state history.

The networks projected wins for both Trump and Sanders at 8:01 p.m., a historic first, a minute after polls closed in late voting cities and towns, based on dynamic numbers being reported in Exit Polls and tabulations made in higher population communities – like the capital city, Concord – that ended its voting in 7 p.m.

The support for both Sanders and Trump was solid and consistent in many of the communities that tend to support establishment candidates, including the southern tier of the state and the Seacoast. Both candidates not only took on their party’s establishment candidates but also struck a chord with voters on economic issues. Trump hammered away at bad trade deals and special interests buying influence in Washington, DC, while Sanders told voters that he would take on Wall Street’s rigged system and tax millionaires to pay for jobs programs, healthcare, and infrastructure investments.

Celebrations and concessions

Sanders congratulated Clinton and her supporters for waging a vigorous campaign in front of hundreds of people at Concord High School.

“Together, we have sent a message, from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine to California, that is, that the government of our great country belongs to all of us, and not just a handful of wealthy contributors and their Super PACS,” he said.

Sanders said that he won because his campaign harnessed the energy and enthusiasm of people frustrated with the status quo. He said if they party works to capture those voters across the country, it would the presidency again. Right-wing Republicans, he added, must not be allowed to win the presidency.

Sanders called for campaign finance reform and a changed to the “rigged economy” where all the new income and wealth was going to the Top 1 percent of wage earnings.

“So beautiful,” Trump said to cheers at the Executive Court in Manchester where hundreds of people were turned away due to fire codes. “This is something very special ... We are going to make America great again.”

Trump thanked his supporters and suggested that his parents were looking down upon him from heaven … they loved this country, he added. Trump also congratulated all the other Republican candidates as well as Sanders.

“You started it,” he said after thanking the people of New Hampshire for catapulting him to a huge win.

Trump attacked lobbyists and special interests and said those orgs were funding the campaigns of both sides. He said that they needed to be stopped in order to make deals and form a government that was in the interest of the people.

Trump credited his ground game in New Hampshire in the week after his loss in the Iowa Caucuses and congratulated his Republican challengers - he also congratulated Sanders but criticized him, too, saying, “He wants to give away our country.”

Other reactions

Carson said that he was “honored and humbled” at the opportunity to meet so many great people around the United States, including New Hampshire.

“I thank everyone for their kind hospitality and support,” he said. “I commend the many staff and volunteers from New Hampshire who worked tirelessly to spread our call to return faith, integrity and common sense to American leadership.”

Across New Hampshire, he said, he heard from people who were “sick and tired of D.C. insider political games and manipulation.” Voters around the country are looking for “new leadership in Washington, which is why I’m working so hard to return ‘We the People’ to the White House.”

Carson said he would move onto South Carolina, Nevada and the Super Tuesday states, adding, “I will continue to stand for integrity, accountability and honest leadership.”

In front of hundreds of supporters at SNHU in Manchester, Clinton, with her husband and daughter, conceded to Sanders.

“I want to thank each and every one of you,” Clinton said. “And I want to say, I still love New Hampshire and I always will.”

Clinton said she would continue her campaign and work to make inroads with younger voters as she moves onto South Carolina and Nevada.

Kasich, who came in second, thanked many of his supporters in New Hampshire including former U.S. Sens. Gordon Humphrey and John Sununu, as well as former NH AG Tom Rath.

“There’s just no way to say this appropriately,” Kasich said. I said, ‘I have an insurance policy … it’s you.’ It’s all of you.”

Cruz, in front of former House Speaker Bill O’Brien and former U.S. Sen. Bob Smith, R-NH, thanked his supporters for sticking with him despite the millions of dollars of campaign ads attacking his effort. He said being effectively tied for third was pretty good.

“That’s a result that all of us were told was impossible,” he said. “Together, we’ve done what the pundits and the media said could not be done, and what the Washington establishment desperately hoped would not be done.”

Cruz said the outcome was a result of all the hard work of grassroots conservatives in the state.

Chris Christie had a disappointing finish despite securing the endorsement of the Union Leader—the state’s largest newspaper—and turning in a strong debate performance Saturday.

Speaking in Nashua, a dejected Christie said he will fly back home to New Jersey Wednesday instead of traveling to South Carolina. He didn’t officially drop out of the race, but his demeanor hinted at it.

“We’re going to take a deep breath,” Christie said. ”It will allow us to make a decision about how we move on from here.”

Exit polling

Voters from both political parties filling out Exit Polls in New Hampshire told samplers gathering information that they were concerned about the economy and the nation’s place in the world.

Sixty percent of Republican voters said they were worried about terrorism while three-quarters of voters said they were worried about the economy, according to CNN. A whopping 90 percent said they were angry about the state of the federal government. Half said that they were angry with the Republican Party.

Three-quarters of the Democrats sampled said they were worried about the economy and 40 percent said they thought life for the next generation would be worse than life today. Not until those Republican angry at the state of the federal government, 90 percent said the nation’s economy favored the wealthy.

RESULTS:

100 percent reporting

REPUBLICANS

• Donald Trump: 100,406
• John Kasich: 44,909
• Ted Cruz: 33,189
• Jeb Bush: 31,310
• Marco Rubio: 30,032
• Chris Christe: 21,069
• Carly Fiorina: 11,706
• Ben Carson: 6,509
• Rand Paul: 1,900
• Write-ins: 1,775
• Mike Huckabee: 215
• Andy Martin: 169
• Rick Santorum: 155
• Jim Gilmore: 133
• Richard Witz: 105
• George Pataki: 80
• Tim Cook: 77
• Lindsey Graham: 70
• Bobby Jindal: 64
• Brooks Cullison: 54
• Frank Lynch: 47
• Joe Robinson: 44
• Stephen Comley: 31
• Daniel Dyas: 14
• Chomi Prag: 14
• Stephen McCarthy: 12
• Walter Iwachiw: 9
• Kevin Huey: 7
• Matt Drozd: 5
• Robert Mann: 5
• Peter Messina: 5

DEMOCRATS

100 percent reporting

• Bernie Sanders: 145,702
• Hillary Clinton: 92,531
• Write-ins: 2,173
• Martin O’Malley: 615
• Vermin Supreme: 256
• David Thistle: 226
• Graham Schwass: 125
• Steve Burke: 106
• Rocky De La Fuente: 95
• John Wolfe: 54
• Jon Adams: 52
• Lloyd Kelso: 47
• Keith Judd: 43
• Eric Elbot: 34
• Star Locke: 33
• Bill French: 27
• Mark Stewart Greenstein: 27
• Henry Hewes: 18
• Bill McGaughey: 17
• Edward Sonnino: 17
• Steven Lipscomb: 16
• Sam Sloan: 15
• Brock Hutton: 14
• Raymond Moroz: 8
• Richard Weil: 7

Editor’s Note: These are unofficial results.

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Midnight voting

Three locations in New Hampshire cast ballots at midnight and brought with them early returns in the primary.

Kasich took the early voting at Dixville Notch, receiving three votes, with Trump receiving two. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, won on the Democrat’s side with four votes. Neither Secretary of State Hillary Clinton nor other candidates received any votes.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, received nine votes in Millfield with Trump getting three and others receiving single votes. Clinton received two and Sanders one there.

At Hart’s Location, New Hampshire’s third midnight vote town, Sanders bested Clinton, 12-7, with Mark Stewart Greenstein receiving two votes. Kasich received five votes and Trump got four, according to reports, with other candidates receiving single votes.

Voter turnout

Secretary of State Bill Gardner predicted record turnout for the New Hampshire presidential primary this year based on heavily contested races for both Republicans and Democrats. Out of the more than 882,000 registered voters in the state, Gardner expected about 550,000 voters to participate, or around 62 percent.

Credit of photo of cars waiting in line in Merrimack to Jeffrey Hastings, Frame of Mind Photography. FrameofMindPhoto.com.