NH Students Pick Sanders, Trump; Dems Debate Tonight

CONCORD, NH - For the fifth year in a row, thousands of New Hampshire elementary students participated in a mock first-in-the-nation primary vote, conducted by New Hampshire Public Television, and the results were not really surprising, considering the state of the race in the Granite State.

In the Democrat primary, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders easily bested former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by a nearly two-to-one margin (3,589 votes to 1,813). Former Gov. Martin O’Malley, D-MD, received 106 votes and 108 votes were cast for “other.”

For those students choosing the Republican ballot, Donald Trump received the most votes – 2,150 votes or 37 percent – with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, coming in second (823 votes) and former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-FL, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, tying for third with 743 votes each. Dr. Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina came in fourth and fifth.

The full results can be found here: Mock Election.

Interestingly, only 11,000 of the state’s 20,000-plus elementary school students participated or a little more than half – about what the national voting participation rate is during most general elections. As well, the vote mirrors some of the most recent polling in the state with Trump showing solid poll position and Sanders besting Clinton by shockingly large margins.

NHPTV has been hosting mock elections since 1996, according to organizers. Students were able to vote by ballot and online.

Dems debate

The Democrats are down to two – Clinton and Sanders – and they face-off tonight at 9 p.m. on MSNBC from the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow will be moderating along with support from the staff of the New Hampshire Union Leader.

The candidates sat down for another “town hall” forum in Derry last night that was broadcast on CNN.

Carly out of GOP debate but …

ABC News, the main organizers of Saturday’s Republican debate, has announced that it will not let businesswoman Carly Fiorina participate in the final debate before the New Hampshire primary.

The network made the decision because she did not meet the qualifications of participation as agreed to by the network and the Republican National Committee.

As noted on Patch yesterday, participants include the top three finishers in Iowa – Cruz, Trump and Rubio – as well as any candidate in the top six in recent New Hampshire or national poll averages, according to organizers.

According to the Real Clear Politics average of polls in New Hampshire, Gov. John Kasich, R-OH, Bush, and Gov. Christ Christie, R-NJ, have all be in the fourth to sixth slots, with between 6 and 10 percent in the state. Carson is currently fourth in the averages of national polls.

With U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-PA, dropping out, that leaves Fiorina and former Gov. Jim Gilmore, R-VA, who hasn’t shown a bleep in any polling. Fiorina, however, has been running eighth in national polling and seventh in New Hampshire polling or just under the threshold.

Firoina’s campaign posted an online petition asking for support getting on the debate stage. The campaign stated that at this stage in the race, she has as many delegates to the convention as Bush and Carson, and she bested Kasich and Christie during Monday’s Iowa Caucuses. The campaign also stated it had raised more money and had more cash on-hand then some of the candidates still in the race.

Even U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, who hasn’t endorsed anyone in the race, issued a statement saying the network’s decision was wrong.

“Carly Fiorina has campaigned hard in New Hampshire to earn support from voters,” said Ayotte. “ABC News’ decision to exclude her from Saturday’s debate on the eve of our primary, while she is outperforming one of the other debate participants in New Hampshire polls, undermines our role in the primary process, and I urge ABC to allow Ms. Fiorina to participate.”

The debate is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6, at St. Anselm College in Manchester and will be broadcast on ABC stations, including WMUR-TV.

Candidates and healthcare

The NH Medical Society sent out healthcare questions to all of the presidential candidates and received five completed surveys, according to the organization. The surveys consisted of four questions about healthcare issues. According to the organization, Bush, Christie, Clinton, Kasich, and Sanders, were the only candidates to submit answers.

Rand fallout

The scramble is on by many of the campaigns to pick up the support of former candidate Paul’s supporters in New Hampshire.

Mike Biundo, of RightOn Strategies, a senior advisor to Paul, has signed on to assist Kasich in the waning days of the race.

Other Paul supporters, however, say they will “Stand with Rand.”

Ron Noyes, a popular New Hampshire musician, took to Facebook to tell friends he would be voting for Paul anyway. In a statement to Patch, Kathy Peterson, another tireless supporter of Paul’s, said she was going to keep the faith and vote for Paul anyway.

“No one compares,” she said. “He earned the right to be on 50 state ballots and the campaign is just suspended … I will no support or endorse any other candidate.”

Santorum backs Rubio

Yesterday afternoon, Santorum, who headed to South Carolina after the Iowa Caucuses, decided to bow out saying it wasn’t his time. He immediately threw his support to Rubio. Rubio, who appears to be ascending in New Hampshire, also received the support last month of former Gov. George Pataki, R-NY.

Former House Majority Leader, DJ Bettencourt, R-Salem, also announced his support for Christie in a column on Patch.