Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Tuesday claimed victory in the New Hampshire primary, the second Democratic contest of the 2020 election.
All eyes were on New Hampshire after last week's chaotic Iowa caucuses, where problems with the app used for reporting results delayed the outcome for days.
Read below for the latest updates or see the full results here.
Highlights from the New Hampshire primary:
- Deval Patrick ends his presidential bid, joining Michael Bennet and Andrew Yang.
- DNC Chair Perez praises turnout, while Yang doesn't rule out a future run.
- What's happened to Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden?
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New Hampshire primary breaks record
The New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office has provided verified results for the first in the nation primary.
A record number of ballots cast for a primary with an incumbent president on either side, surpassing the secretary of state's predictions.
TOTAL VOTES: 457,000
DEMOCRATIC: 300,000
GOP: 156,000
DEM TOTALS =
Sanders: 76,352
Buttigieg: 72,443
Klobuchar: 58,774
Warren: 27,427
Biden: 24,911
Turnout in N.H. surpasses 2008 with final results still to come
ANALYSIS: Bloomberg storms to the center of the 2020 presidential fray
Mike Bloomberg is starting to dominate the national political debate like no one in the past five years other than President Donald Trump.
He rocketed into third place nationally this week in a series of recent Democratic presidential primary polls, even though he hasn't participated in the first contests or any of the party's debates.
His name is constantly on the lips of rival candidates, political insiders and pundits — somehow omni-present by virtue of his absence from the primary here.
And he even found himself at the center of his first full-on controversy Tuesday, with the surfacing of audio recordings of him defending his stop-and-frisk policing policy in terms that the Trump campaign and fellow Democrats described as "racist."
But while the fight had been joined even before poll-closing time here Tuesday, there was a growing sense in Democratic and Republican political circles that Bloomberg is only on the verge of exploding onto the scene with his campaign to take the Democratic Party nomination by storm and drive Trump from power.
Bloomberg camp portrays him as 'uniter' amid stop-and-frisk fallout
As Mike Bloomberg copes with the fallout from past controversial comments about the New York Police Department's "stop-and-frisk" policies, a senior campaign adviser told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell the former mayor is a uniter.
"Our theory of the case from the very beginning is that Mike Bloomberg is best positioned in this field to unite various factions of the Democratic Party that need to come together to beat Donald Trump in November," the adviser, Tim O'Brien, said Wednesday on "Andrea Mitchell Reports."
Bloomberg was ripped by the president and even fellow Democratic presidential candidates after audio emerged Tuesday of him telling an interviewer in 2015 that "we put all the cops in the minority neighborhoods" because "that's where are the crime is."
Symone Sanders, a senior adviser for Joe Biden's campaign, told reporters on Wednesday that she was "extremely disturbed" by Bloomberg's comments.
O'Brien said it "pains" Bloomberg "deeply that anyone would think stop-and-frisk defines who he is as an individual and a candidate. It also does not reflect the totality of Mike’s time as mayor and as a citizen of the world, which is not lost on voters of color either."
He noted that as New York City mayor, Bloomberg started an outreach program to young men of color, diversified New York's police force and "had the most progressive immigration policy of any big city mayor. None of that is the mark of someone who is a white racist trying to shove white cops down the throats of black people."
O'Brien also pushed back on criticism from rivals, including Bernie Sanders, that Bloomberg is trying to buy the election.
"There’s been I think a sort of a cartoonish reliance at this point to just say, well, he’s ahead because of a big ad spend, when in fact, he’s ahead because he’s got an incredible personal story, and a set of public policies that directly have an effect on the well-being of Americans who want to vote for him," O'Brien insisted before touting the benefits of Bloomberg's big spending.
Bloomberg is a "godsend" to the race, reinvigorating the Democratic Party's financial resources and organizational apparatus when it otherwise would be "severely outgunned" by Republicans, O'Brien said.
"As you know, we’ve said that this big machine that we’re building will be at the foot of the party for whoever the nominee is, even if it’s not Mike, because Mike sees this election as the culmination of his life’s work," he said. "Our movement is a stop Donald Trump movement."
Biden advisers assail Bloomberg over stop-and-frisk comments
The Biden campaign held a state of the race conference call with reporters featuring Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., and senior adviser Symone Sanders, insisting the former VP has a path to the nomination while taking aim at the one candidate in particular: Mike Bloomberg.
Sanders said that Bloomberg is "unvetted," and said she was "extremely disturbed" by the leaked audio of Bloomberg discussing stop-and-frisk and racial profiling.
"A quick apology is just not going to cut the mustard," she said.
Richmond added that Bloomberg "has not had his turn in the barrel," and that the campaign "looks forward to drawing the comparison" with him on the debate stage. He referred to Bloomberg as a "billionaire who is all the sudden a Democrat."
The trio also insisted Biden would be able to stay competitive despite the steep imbalance in ad spending with Bloomberg.
"We know our message, we know our base, and we know that people know Joe Biden because Joe Biden knows people."
The New Hampshire primary in graphics: Turnout up, Sanders edges out Buttigieg for the win
The New Hampshire primary is in the books, and Bernie Sanders was the biggest winner of the night, claiming a narrow victory over Pete Buttigieg.
According to the latest numbers, Sanders leads Buttigieg 25.8 percent to 24.5 percent, with 98 percent of the vote in.
Sanders won in all parts of the state Tuesday night. An NBC News analysis of the returns shows he racked up wins in New Hampshire’s three biggest cities, Manchester, Nashua and Concord, and in the state’s smallest townships.
See NBC News' graphics on how the leading candidates did and turnout.
Clyburn says Biden 'has not projected out into the future the way people would like'
Rep. Jim Clyburn, the House Majority Whip and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, told MSNBC's Craig Melvin on Wednesday that Joe Biden “has not projected out into the future the way people would like for him to do” amid poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Biden is still a strong contender in Clyburn’s home state of South Carolina, which is often viewed as his firewall, but Clyburn, a longtime ally of the former vice president and political kingmaker in his state, said billionaire businessman Tom Steyer has a "great" chance to become a top-tier candidate after building a robust operation there.
"I just think that [Biden] is still, as of this moment, the leading candidate in South Carolina," he said. "I think Steyer is doing well in South Carolina, and so I do believe as we go into South Carolina it is a five-way contest right now."
Clyburn said that the other billionaire in the Democratic race, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg "will have one heck of a challenge trying to overcome" has past remarks supporting New York's previous stop-and-frisk policing policy "because that was a very, very racially charged policy.”
Clyburn added that Iowa and New Hampshire should “absolutely not” lead off the Democratic nomination process, "and I've been saying that for over 20 years."
Democratic hopefuls face test of strength with voters of color in Nevada, South Carolina
The New Hampshire primary is over. The Iowa caucus is — kind of, mostly — settled. But the Democratic primary race is just getting started. There are several more nominating contests in the days and weeks ahead that could prove decisive in selecting a Democratic nominee before the party's convention kicks off on July 13 in Milwaukee.
Here's what's next.
Nevada's Democratic caucus is scheduled for Feb. 22. The Democratic electorate here has a significant non-white population, and the caucuses are an opportunity for candidates to show their strength with Latinos, an important Democratic voting bloc. The union vote is also powerful.
The core of the Democratic base, black voters, resides in South Carolina, whose Feb. 29 primary is the first contest in the South and will test candidates' strength with this key demographic. More so than overwhelmingly white Iowa or New Hampshire, the state's electorate more closely resembles the larger Democratic Party, which gives the contest additional significance in selecting the nominee.
Read more about these and the other contests ahead.
Sanders addresses Culinary Union's health care attacks
Fresh off Bernie Sanders' win in the New Hampshire primary, the Vermont senator is trying to reassure union workers in Nevada about healthcare.
The state's influential Culinary Union, which represents 60,000 workers, sent out a flyer on Tuesday warning that Sanders would "end Culinary healthcare." The union pays for members' healthcare through a special trust fund.
Asked in an interview with NBC News' Kristen Welker on Wednesday whether the union is right, Sanders said, "No."
"We will talk to the Culinary Union. It's a great union. We work with them very closely," Sanders said. "What we are going to do is expand Medicare to provide comprehensive healthcare to every man, woman and child. And our Medicare for All program will work well for the culinary workers, will work well for every union in America because finally we are gonna have comprehensive healthcare. And that includes expanding Medicare to include hearing aids, dental care, eyeglasses and in-home healthcare and every American, the vast majority of working Americans, will pay substantially less than they're paying right now."
Welker asked Sanders if he was concerned that the skepticism from some in the union could hurt him in Nevada ahead of Feb. 22 caucuses.
"I do not predict that we are gonna win 100 percent of the vote, never have. I think we are gonna do very, very well because we have a coalition," he said. "We have a coalition of working people, we have a coalition of young people, we have the communities of color, I think, strongly behind us and that's the kind of coalition we need to win."
In a statement later in the day Wednesday, a Culinary Union representative, Geoconda Argüello-Kline, said Sanders' supporters had "viciously attacked" the organization because it "provided facts on what certain healthcare proposals might do to take away the system of care we have built over 8 decades."
Former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg used the union's concerns to hit Sanders' health care plan earlier in the day in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"Nevada’s a good example of a place where there is, there are a lot of union workers, who sometimes gave concessions on wages in order to get excellent plans," he said. "I’m thinking about culinary workers, for example ... they are not interested in Senator Sanders’s vision of eliminating all private plans, because they actually got and fought for good health care coverage that they have right now. If the choice is between Senator Sanders telling them they’re gonna have to give that up, and me saying we can enhance and increase choice without asking them to sacrifice what they have worked so hard for, I think that is a very good debate for us to have, and I’m looking forward to having that debate."
Deval Patrick ends presidential campaign after poor showing in New Hampshire
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced Wednesday that he is dropping out of the Democratic primary race after a poor showing in New Hampshire.
Touting his record on health care, education and the budget in Massachusetts, Patrick said in a statement, "I believed and still believe we had a strong case to make for being able to deliver better outcomes."
"But the vote in New Hampshire last night was not enough for us to create the practical wind at the campaign’s back to go on to the next round of voting," he added. "So I have decided to suspend the campaign, effective immediately."
The former governor said he is "not suspending my commitment to help — there is still work to be done," warning that the country is "facing the most consequential election of our lifetime. Our democracy itself, let alone our civic commitments to equality, opportunity and fair play, are at risk."
Hoping for a next-door-neighbor advantage, Patrick, whose campaign failed to gain momentum after he entered the race late, in November, drew below 1 percent of the vote with 97 percent of the precincts reporting as of Wednesday morning, according to the NBC News Decision Desk.
During the campaign, Patrick faced fundraising and organizational challenges and failed to significantly register in national polling.
Patrick, who has close ties to President Barack Obama, was a two-term Massachusetts governor from 2007 to 2015, the second black governor elected in U.S. history.
Bloomberg spends big to challenge Trump on his home court: Facebook
Mike Bloomberg is spending so much money on Facebook ads that he has surpassed President Donald Trump, the reigning king of the social media realm.
The billionaire media magnate and the former mayor of New York City has been pouring millions of dollars into Facebook and its sibling app Instagram since he jumped into the Democratic presidential race, easily outpacing the Trump campaign, according to Facebook data compiled by NBC News.
Bloomberg spent more than $1 million a day on average over the past two weeks on Facebook. That’s five times more than Trump spent during the same period — and more than three times what Trump spent per day during his victorious fall 2016 campaign.
With an estimated net worth of around $61 billion, the former mayor said after the muddled results from the Iowa caucuses that he would ramp up his budget for ads and staff. He’s focused on the dozen-plus states that will cast votes on Super Tuesday, March 3, which is reflected in his Facebook spending.
After NH, the marathon becomes a quick sprint
ANALYSIS: Klobuchar's bronze is gold as Democrats awaken to a scrambled field
Olympians know bronze feels better than silver. Now, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., does, too.
Finishing third in New Hampshire's Democratic presidential primary Tuesday meant breathing a burst of life into her campaign and holding her most reviled rival, Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, to a second-place showing.
Her home-stretch surge, fueled by a stellar debate performance Friday, appeared to be the key factor that robbed Buttigieg of the votes he needed to top Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. The surprise star turn combined with the fading of former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to catapult Klobuchar into the conversation about which bridge-the-divide candidate is best equipped to survive a long-slog campaign.
Bloomberg seeks to make stop-and-frisk controversy about Trump
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is working to bounce back from newly unearthed comments he made about crime in minority neighborhoods by casting the controversy as a cynical attempt by President Donald Trump to blunt his momentum in the presidential race.
A day after an audio clip emerged of Bloomberg bluntly defending the stop-and-frisk policy he oversaw as mayor, Bloomberg’s campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, sought to portray it as an indication Trump is worried about Bloomberg’s rise and the prospect of running against him in the general election. Trump on Tuesday tweeted out the clip and called Bloomberg a “total racist,” although he later deleted the tweet.
“When you threaten Trump, you become a target,” Sheekey tells NBC News. “Mike was mayor for 12 years and fought for all New Yorkers, but he also knows you don’t back down from a bully and we are in a war to remove him from office.”
Although the audio clip from a 2015 speech by Bloomberg was discovered and published by a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., it caught fire on social media just as voters in New Hampshire were going to the polls Tuesday in large part due to amplification by the president and his son, Donald Trump Jr., who called Bloomberg’s comments “shocking by any reasonable standard of today.” That’s despite the fact that Trump has and continues to be a strong supporter of stop-and-frisk policing policies.
Yang says 'You haven't seen the last of the Yang Gang' when asked about future run
New York businessman Andrew Yang, who dropped out of the Democratic presidential primary race Tuesday night after finishing near the bottom of the field in New Hampshire, says he won't rule out running for office again.
"You haven't seen the last of the Yang Gang," he told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
When asked about the possibility of running for New York City Mayor, Yang said he "hasn't ruled anything out at this point."
"I'm more attracted to executive roles than legislative ones because I think you can get more done, you can get your hands dirtier and roll up your sleeves," he said.
Yang declined to say where his devoted "Yang Gang" should throw their support now that he's out of the presidential race. He said that he has spoken to other Democratic candidates, but he's trying to figure out which of them aligns with his vision, particularly his signature universal basic income policy.
When asked on CNN whether he would want to be a vice presidential candidate, Yang said he would be honored to serve as someone’s running mate adding, “if I can solve these problems as someone's vice president, a member of an administration, we just need to start solving these problems for the next generation. And I'm happy to do my part. I'm also happy to do my part to campaign for the nominee and beat Donald Trump in the fall.”
Buttigieg slams Sanders on health care after finishing second in New Hampshire
Pete Buttigieg pitched himself as a unifier who can get progressive policies passed without busting the budget in an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Wednesday.
Fresh off a strong second-place finish in New Hampshire, Buttigieg said he can maintain the momentum going into Nevada and South Carolina, where he said he plans to make his case to Latino and black voters — considered a weak spot in his support base.
The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, slammed Sanders for policies that he said would cost too much and said he wants to bring unity to the party around progressive policies.
"On issue after issue after issue, we share the same goals; what I'm offering is a way to do it that can actually get achieved that is paid for," he said, referring to progressive policies such as universal health care.
"Nevada’s a good example of a place where there are a lot of union workers, who sometimes gave concessions on wages in order to get excellent plans — I’m thinking about culinary workers, for example," he said, referring to the Culinary Workers Union, which recently sent out a flyer expressing concern that its workers could lose their health care coverage under Sanders' "Medicare for All" proposal.
"If the choice is between Senator Sanders telling them they’re gonna have to give that up, and me saying we can enhance and increase choice without asking them to sacrifice what they have worked so hard for, I think that is a very good debate for us to have, and I’m looking forward to having that debate," he said, referring to that and other unions who have made health care a priority.
Buttigieg's campaign plans to double his staff on the ground in Nevada, bringing the total to 100, and put more money into the airwaves there. It will be airing an ad in the state titled “Your Choice” that draws a direct contrast between the candidate and Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on health care.
FIRST READ: The 2020 Democratic presidential contest is about to turn into a math race
Andrew Yang has suspended his campaign, but his slogan lives on — and it could very well be the most important story in the race for the Democratic nomination over the next five months.
Math.
After Bernie Sanders’ narrow victory last night in New Hampshire, Pete Buttigieg’s close second, Amy Klobuchar’s surprising third, Elizabeth Warren’s disappointing fourth and Joe Biden disastrous finish in fifth, we now have a delegate race on our hands.
Two contests down, and here’s the pledged delegate scoreboard: Buttigieg 23, Sanders 21, Warren 8, Klobuchar 7, and Biden 6. No other candidate has received a single delegate.
Democratic delegates are awarded proportionately, so to rack up big delegate hauls over the competition, you have to win big — it’s why Super Tuesday looms big.
What's happened to Warren, Biden? Dismal showings and questions about the future.
Joe Biden's and Elizabeth Warren's poor finishes in New Hampshire raise daunting questions about the future of their campaigns after both former front-runners were denied podium positions by a late-surging Amy Klobuchar.
Biden appears set to finish fifth and Warren fourth — a stunning result for two candidates who were neck and neck for national front-runner status as recently as October — and NBC News projected Tuesday that neither of them would meet the threshold to collect any delegates.
Warren's clearest path to the nomination was one in which Pete Buttigieg flamed out early and cleared the way for her to win over white college graduates, a large Democratic constituency that is split between the two. But his top-two finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire have now put him at the top of the pack.
Biden — who fled New Hampshire early Tuesday — faces grueling questions about his future after his fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses led to new polls that showed him losing his front-runner spot and hemorrhaging support among the critical constituency that has buoyed him: African American voters. A fifth-place result in New Hampshire will only increase the intensity of the questions.
Bernie Sanders is now the front-runner. And moderates may be too divided to stop him.
Victorious in New Hampshire on the heels of a popular-vote win in Iowa, Bernie Sanders has forced the Democratic establishment to reckon with a prospect it has been dismissing: He's currently the favorite to win the party's presidential nomination.
The Vermont senator has seen his fortunes rise since Iowa, leap-frogging a struggling former Vice President Joe Biden as the frontrunner in two national surveys of Democratic voters — ahead by 8 points in a Quinnipiac poll and 10 points in a Monmouth poll. At a jubilant election night party here, he told a cheering crowd that his victory in the state was "the beginning of the end for Donald Trump."
The prospect was causing waves of anxiety in the Democratic Party.
Trump camp mocks Democratic 'dumpster fire' as president claims easy NH win
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Four years ago, Donald Trump's victory here shocked the GOP and set him on the path to winning his party's presidential nomination. On Tuesday, he was on the ballot again — this time, the undisputed standard-bearer of the GOP in a state where he'll face a far tougher contest this fall.
Trump was the projected winner of the New Hampshire Republican primary early in the evening, pulling in 86 percent of the vote with 96 percent of precincts reporting. The president was handily beating William Weld, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, although Weld had 9 percent of the vote — a much better performance than he had in Iowa's caucuses last week, when he got just 1 percent.
While Trump's victory here was widely expected, the results from early NBC News exit polls opened a window into the hold Trump has on the Republican Party — at least, among those who showed up for Tuesday's contest — and the Democratic determination to defeat him.
N.H. Dem turnout surpasses that of 2016, approaching 2008 numbers
Turnout in Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire has already surpassed that of 2016’s Democratic primary as votes still trickle in on Tuesday night.
With 90 percent of precincts in, according to NBC's Decision Desk, there have been more than 263,000 Democratic votes counted, more than the 254,780 Democratic ballots cast in 2016. It’s unclear whether the final tally will eclipse that of the 2008 Democratic primary, where 288,672 ballots were cast.
Ahead of Tuesday’s primary, Secretary of State Bill Gardner had predicted that 292,000 Democratic ballots would be cast, which would narrowly eclipse that 2008 mark.
Gardner predicted that only 128,000 Republican primary ballots would be cast because of Trump’s lack of serious challengers for his party’s nomination. With 96 percent of precincts in, about 124,000 had been counted.
NBC News Exit Poll: Concerns about inequality and health care drive support for Sanders
Concerns about different issues distinguish the supporters of Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, the top two finishers in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, according to the NBC News Exit Poll.
As they left the polls today, voters were asked to choose one of four key issues that mattered most in their choice of a candidate. Sanders was the top choice among those who identified health care as their key concern, and he also beat Buttigieg among voters who prioritized income inequality.
Buttigieg, on the other hand, led Sanders among voters naming climate change as their most important issue. And Buttigieg solidly beat Sanders among voters naming foreign policy as their chief concern.
NBC News Exit Poll: Buttigieg's strength with most demographic groups boosts him to second place in New Hampshire
Pete Buttigieg did not have any breakout groups in the New Hampshire Democratic primary Tuesday, but his across-the-board strength was enough to propel him to a close second-place finish.
According to the NBC News Exit Poll, Buttigieg was the favored candidate among Democrats who said that the candidate’s age was an important factor in their vote, as well as those who earn more than $100,000. The former Navy intelligence officer also was the first choice of voters who said that foreign policy was the most important issue in their vote, as well as voters who prioritized beating Donald Trump over picking a candidate who agreed with them on issues.
Buttigieg’s key strength, though, was being a consistent performer across nearly all demographic groups. His 23 percent support among college graduates put him right behind Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders, and he placed second behind Sanders among those without a college degree.
Buttigieg also placed a close second behind Klobuchar among voters age 45 and over. And Buttigieg beat out the field among women voters by a narrow margin and placed second behind Sanders among men.
Klobuchar nabs third place in New Hampshire, exclaims, 'Hello, America!'
Amy Klobuchar rocketed into the top tier of contenders Tuesday night, taking third in the New Hampshire primary, according to an NBC News projection.
The Minnesota senator beat out former Vice President Joe Biden and a fellow senator, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, but trailed Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Pete Buttigieg. Sanders won New Hampshire's primary by a margin of about 4,000 votes, or less than 2 percentage points, over the former mayor of South Bend, according to an NBC News projection.
Klobuchar introduced herself to the nation in a televised speech earlier in the evening.
"Hello America! I'm Amy Klobuchar and I will beat Donald Trump,” she told a cheering crowd. “My heart is full tonight. While there are still ballots to count, we have beaten the odds every step of the way.”
Following N.H. win, Sanders vows party unity and 'the beginning of the end for Donald Trump'
Sanders, who NBC News has projected as the winner of tonight’s New Hampshire primary, thanked a crowd of supporters and pledged to unite the Democratic Party to defeat President Donald Trump in November.
Sanders, mentioning Buttigieg , Klobuchar, Biden and Warren by name, offered his “gratitude and respect” to his competitors, before vowing party unity.
“We are going to unite together and defeat the most dangerous president of the modern history of this country,” he told a crowd at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester.
Sanders, citing a "popular vote" victory in Iowa and "the victory here tonight," turned his attention to the contests in Nevada and South Carolina later this month.
"We’re going to win those states as well," he said.
He also thanked "the people of New Hampshire for a great victory tonight," including "the thousands of volunteers" in the state "who knocked on doors in the rain, in the snow and the cold."
"Let me say tonight that this victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump," Sanders said.
Buttigieg thanks supporters as campaign turns attention to next contests
Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg addressed supporters in New Hampshire after he narrowly lost tonight's primary to Bernie Sanders, according to an NBC News projection. Buttigieg thanked voters who turned out for him and enthusiastically previewed the upcoming contests in Nevada and South Carolina.
"You asserted that famous independent streak and thanks to you, a campaign that some said shouldn’t be at all, has shown that we are here to stay," Sanders told a cheering crowd inside the Nashua Community College gymnasium.
"So many of you turned out. Die-hard Democrats, independents unwilling to stay on the sidelines, and even some newly former Republicans, ready to vote for something new," he added.
Buttigieg said he congratulated Sanders on his "strong showing" before announcing that his campaign now "moves on" to Nevada, South Carolina and "to communities across our country."
"And we will welcome new allies to our movement at every step," he said.
NBC News Exit Poll: Sanders wins New Hampshire with support from young, liberal and financially insecure voters
Bernie Sanders is projected to win the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, riding a wave of support from young voters and those placing themselves at the most progressive end of the political spectrum. He also ran strongly among financially fragile Democrats and among voters who made up their minds long before the 2020 primary season began in January, results from the NBC News Exit Poll show.
Among New Hampshire Democrats ages 18 to 29, Sanders dominated. He garnered more than half of their votes, leaving his closest rival, Pete Buttigieg, far behind in this group.
Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, also easily prevailed among voters describing themselves as “very liberal.” He got 51 percent of their votes, far ahead of progressive rival Elizabeth Warren, who finished a distant second in this group with 18 percent.
Reflecting the Vermont senator’s pledge to expand the social safety net, Sanders also established a clear lead among those who said their family was falling behind financially. This was a relatively small share of voters: only 12 percent of New Hampshire Democrats were in this group.
Finally, Sanders — who won the New Hampshire primary with 60 percent of the vote in 2016 — did particularly well among Democrats who reached their decision before January, winning 46 percent of their votes.
Bernie Sanders wins the New Hampshire Democratic primary
Bernie Sanders has won the New Hampshire Democratic primary by a margin of about 4,000 votes, or less than 2 percentage points, over Pete Buttigieg, according to an NBC News projection.
Sanders, who represents neighboring Vermont, had been leading in the polls so his victory isn’t a surprise. Amy Klobuchar appeared to be holding third place.
NBC News Exit Poll: Amy Klobuchar leaps to top tier with support of older, moderate voters who want to unite country
Amy Klobuchar, who just two weeks ago was lodged far behind better-known candidates in national polls of Democrats, has catapulted into the top tier of contenders for the party’s nomination with her strong finish in the New Hampshire presidential primary. NBC News has projected that Klobuchar will place among the top three candidates in Tuesday contest.
In New Hampshire, Klobuchar particularly appealed to older voters, religious voters, those who are middle-of-the-road politically and voters who want the next president to unite the country, according to the NBC News Exit Poll of the state’s Democratic primary voters. The poll found:
- Klobuchar is the clear favorite of New Hampshire Democrats ages 65 and older, winning 32 percent of their votes.
- She is most favored among voters who say that the ability to unite the country is the most important quality they seek in a presidential candidate.
- Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg share the lead among moderate Democrats.
- And Klobuchar enjoys a wide lead among those attending religious services at least one per week, garnering the support of 27 percent of this group.
NBC News Exit Poll: Young New Hampshire Democrats vote for Sanders; older voters choose Klobuchar and Buttigieg
Bernie Sanders is the clear favorite of younger voters in Tuesday's New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, results from the NBC News Exit Poll show. He received support from more than 40 percent of those ages 18 to 44, with Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar trailing far behind.
But among those ages 45 or older, Klobuchar holds a slim lead over Buttigieg, followed by Sanders.
Voters 45 and older accounted for about two-thirds of Tuesday's Democratic voters in New Hampshire, the exit poll found.
'Hello, America!': Klobuchar speaks as results have her poised for strong finish
Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota addressed the nation on Tuesday as the partial results from New Hampshire's showed her surprisingly strong performance in the state.
With 65 percent of the vote in, Klobuchar had 20 percent of the voting, trailing only Bernie Sanders, who had 26.3 percent, and Pete Buttigieg, who had 24 percent. She was leading both a fellow senator, Elizabeth Warren, and Joe Biden.
“Hello America, I’m Amy Klobuchar and I will beat Donald Trump,” she told a cheering crowd of supporters. “My heart is full tonight. While there are still ballots to count. We have beaten the odds every step of the way.”
The Minnesota senator had been trailing behind her party’s front-runners in polls for months.
“Tonight in New Hampshire, as everyone had counted us out, even a week ago — thank you pundits — I came back and we delivered,” she told her crowd. “I never give up, but my story is nothing compared to the resilience that I have seen all over this country.”
NBC News Exit Poll: Warren falters with New Hampshire liberals and college-educated women
Elizabeth Warren rode atop the polls last fall with a call for “big, structural change” backed up by specific plans to attain that change.
But in Tuesday's New Hampshire Democratic primary, among voters who said they were looking for a change agent, she earned only 12 percent of the vote. That put her in a virtual tie for third place with Amy Klobuchar, behind both Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.
Warren had a similarly disappointing performance among voters in her liberal base, behind not only Sanders but also the more moderate Buttigieg and Klobuchar.
And among women with a college degree, Klobuchar came out on top, with 29 percent. Warren’s 12 percent also trailed Buttigieg (24 percent) and Sanders (21 percent).
How a crowded field could help Bernie Sanders
Andrew Yang's run is over, but its significance for Asian Americans will linger, experts say
After tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang ended his Democratic presidential campaign on Tuesday night, many experts said his run was a culturally significant moment for Asian Americans.
Yang, who made history as the first Asian American man to run for president as a Democrat, dropped out after a poor performance in the New Hampshire primary. While Yang largely shied away from “identity politics,” claiming it was divisive, his heritage was a frequent topic of conversation on the campaign trail, particularly given the underrepresentation of Asian Americans in politics.
“The Yang campaign is significant even if it's over,” Anthony Ocampo, a sociologist who focuses on race, immigration and LGBTQ issues, told NBC News. “The optics of an Asian American candidate commanding such widespread support, both in rallies and on social media, signals to aspiring Asian American politicians that there is a pathway for them — that they can legitimately aim for the highest office in the nation.”
Biden, facing poor finish in N.H., doubles down on S.C., Nevada efforts: 'It ain't over, man'
Former Vice President Joe Biden, speaking to supporters in South Carolina as results coming in from New Hampshire showed him having a bad night, vowed to stay in the race and doubled down on his strategy to focus on the more diverse states of South Carolina and Nevada.
“It ain’t over man, we’re just getting started,” Biden told supporters in Columbia, S.C. “We’re not going to let anyone take this election from me.”
Biden — who, with 50 percent of the vote in New Hampshire in, had just 8.6 percent support — downplayed the evening’s results, saying that only two states had voted so far.
“Tonight we’ve just heard from two states … not all of the nation, not half of the nation, not a quarter, not 10 percent, two,” Biden said, referring to Iowa and New Hampshire. “Where I come from, that’s the opening bell.”
“I want you to all think of a number: 99.9 percent,” Biden continued. “That’s the percentage of African American voters who have not had a chance to vote yet.
“One more number — 99.8. That’s the number of Latino voters who haven’t had a chance to vote,” added Biden, who has repeatedly talked about his strategy to rely on African American support in South Carolina and Latino support in Nevada.
NBC News Exit Poll: Biden underperforms among voters who care most about beating Trump
Joe Biden has campaigned as a candidate who champions working-class values and can beat President Donald Trump. But those appeals appeared to fizzle in New Hampshire, according to the NBC News Exit Poll.
Six in 10 Democratic primary voters said that supporting a nominee who could beat Trump was their top priority. But Biden got only 11 percent of this group’s vote, trailing Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar.
Biden also came in fourth among voters without a college degree and fourth among Democrats with annual family incomes under $50,000.
Trump mocks Warren, Steyer as results trickle in
NBC News Exit Poll: New Hampshire Democrats who want a change-maker choose Sanders
Voters in Tuesday's New Hampshire Democratic primary were divided between wanting a presidential candidate who can bring about needed change (36 percent) and one who can unite the country (32 percent), according to the NBC News Exit Poll. Another 22 percent were looking for a candidate who cares about people like them and 7 percent wanted a “fighter.”
Among those looking for a change candidate, 38 percent cast their ballots for Bernie Sanders, and Pete Buttigieg placed a distant second.
Among those looking for a unifying candidate, Amy Klobuchar and Buttigieg were the top picks.
As Democrats battle in early states, Bloomberg quietly lays groundwork among party leaders
WASHINGTON — Michael Bloomberg may be absent from the early-state ballots, but behind the scenes, he has been using his wealth and influence to undermine the rest of the Democratic field.
As the other candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination trudged through Iowa and New Hampshire in the early weeks of this year, Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, has doubled his planned spending on television ads, expanded his staff several times over and started aggressively courting key party influencers — including many who have endorsed top rivals like former Vice President Joe Biden.
Bloomberg could escalate his efforts even more directly after the results of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary are in and as candidates, party insiders and voters begin to reassess the state of the race.
NBC News Exit Poll: Sanders leads with New Hampshire liberals; moderates support Klobuchar and Buttigieg
Bernie Sanders is ahead in Tuesday’s New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary largely on a wave of support he’s receiving from liberal voters, according to the NBC News Exit Poll.
Sanders leads with 33 percent of the vote among self-described liberals, followed by Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. Elizabeth Warren, who had banked on a strong showing with liberals, is in fourth place with liberals at just 12 percent.
Among moderate and conservative voters, Klobuchar and Buttigieg are virtually tied, with Sanders further behind, followed by Joe Biden.
Exit poll results indicate that liberals made up roughly 6 in 10 voters in the Democratic primary today.
Biden, Warren won't pick up delegates — but she vows to push on
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, whose next-door-neighbor-state advantage had once been expected to help boost her prospects in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, won't receive any delegates Tuesday night, according to NBC News.
Candidates must meet a threshold of 15 percent in the state's two congressional districts or statewide to win delegates. Joe Biden won't reach that threshold either, according to NBC News.
With 30 percent of the state's precincts reporting, Warren had 9.6 percent of the vote — and was running far behind Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar.
Warren, nevertheless, addressed supporters shortly after polls closed, and signaled that the Democratic primary fight would be long, that there would be a need to unite the party and that she could be the one to do it.
“We still have 98 percent of our delegates up for grabs … and Americans in every part of the country are going to make their voices heard,” Warren said.
“The fight between factions in our party has taken a sharp turn in recent weeks,” she said, adding that, “We will need a nominee that the broadest coalition of our party feels like they can get behind.”
“We cannot afford to fall into factions,” she continued. “We win when we come together,” Warren said, echoing the unity message she’s pushed on the campaign trail in recent weeks.
"Our campaign is built for the long haul," she said later. "And we're just getting started."
Anticipating a poor showing, Biden had already left New Hampshire for South Carolina, the site of the next primary.
Spirits are high at Bernie HQ tonight
Bernie Sanders' campaign is feeling a mix of anxious and excited, a feeling that gets stronger depending on how senior the advisor is you’re talking to.
There are only a few hundred people at the most standing around on the floor or seated in bleachers. There very well may be more press here on the three-story media riser and sitting at surrounding tables than in the crowd around the podium.
As polls closed at 8:00 pm, the crowd began a countdown of "5, 4, 3, 2, 1," before chanting "Bernie, Bernie!"
There have been sporadic cheers from the crowd, when the television displays a favorable exit poll or updated results. The campaign playlist has been playing on repeat for a few hours now.
In Iowa, the campaign had a cash bar flowing with local Iowa brews at their Caucus night party. None of that here- just candy, pizza and popcorn.
NBC News Exit Poll: Income divides Sanders and Buttigieg supporters in New Hampshire primary
Bernie Sanders was the top choice among the quarter of New Hampshire Democratic primary voters whose families earn less than $50,000 per year, the NBC News Exit Poll found. Following Sanders, those voters picked Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar.
Among the 4 in 10 Democratic voters whose families earn more than $100,000 per year, Buttigieg led the pack, followed by Klobuchar, Sanders, Warren and Biden.
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet exits 2020 race
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., is ending his presidential campaign, sources tell NBC News.
Bennet entered the race last May, centered his campaign on issues of reforming democracy, tackling climate change and expanding on the Affordable Care Act with a public option.
Despite jumping into the race later than many of the other Democratic presidential hopefuls, Bennet announced that he was going all in on New Hampshire toward the end of 2019, committing to and completing 50 town halls in the state in the final weeks before the primary.
"I think New Hampshire really is in a position to make a difference here," Bennet had told a house party audience in Brentwood, New Hampshire, following the chaos of last week's Iowa caucuses. "You don't have to accept anybody else's conventional wisdom. The muddle in Iowa creates an opportunity for you to apply your own views here."
NBC News Exit Poll: Recent debate was a major factor in support for Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Sanders
Half of New Hampshire Democratic primary voters waited until the final days of the campaign to settle on a candidate, and last Friday night’s debate played a major role in helping many of them come to their decision, according to the NBC News Exit Poll. Fifteen percent of Democratic primary voters said the debate was the most important factor in their vote, and another 34 percent said it was among several important factors.
Among those who decided in the last few days, 28 percent picked Pete Buttigieg, 23 percent chose Amy Klobuchar and 16 percent voted for Bernie Sanders.
Klobuchar seemed to get a particular bump from her debate performance. Among those who said that the debate was an important factor in their final decision, the breakdown was 30 percent for Klobuchar, 22 percent for Buttigieg and 20 percent Sanders.
NBC News Exit Poll: Sanders leads among voters who care more about issues than beating Trump
Bernie Sanders is the clear favorite among New Hampshire Democratic primary voters who are prioritizing a candidate with whom they agree on major issues, according to results from the NBC News Exit Poll.
But among the majority who care more about beating President Donald Trump than nominating a candidate who matches their views, the vote is split more evenly among Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Sanders. As polls closed, NBC News characterized the race as too early to call, with these three candidates vying for first place and Sanders leading.
Roughly 6 in 10 New Hampshire Democrats prioritize nominating a candidate who can beat Donald Trump; among these voters, Buttigieg leads, followed by Klobuchar and Sanders.
About a third of Granite State Democrats prefer a candidate who shares their views on major issues. Support for Sanders is strongest among this group, followed by Buttigieg and Klobuchar.
Andrew Yang drops out of presidential race
Andrew Yang, a New York businessman whose unusual presidential campaign rose to prominence with a plan to give Americans $1,000 a month, is dropping out of the Democratic race.
Initially seen as a longshot candidate, Yang used a savvy social media strategy to garner legions of devoted followers who referred to themselves as the "Yang Gang."
A lawyer turned entrepreneur and author of a book called "The War on Normal People," Yang appealed to voters by warning of the ills of technology— including automation and artificial intelligence. Yang's plan for a universal basic income— the $1,000 a month check that he dubbed the "Freedom Dividend"— served as a bedrock for his larger vision for fixing a society deeply sickened by capitalism.
"Democrats still have not asked themselves the hard questions as to how Donald Trump won in 2016," Yang said in December. The party is acting like "Trump is the cause of all our problems. He’s a symptom and we need to cure the underlying disease."
Paul Ryan says he thinks Biden could beat Trump, but unlikely to win nomination
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that of the Democratic presidential candidates, he thinks former Vice President Joe Biden would have the best chance to beat President Donald Trump in November, but the Wisconsin Republican predicted Biden would lose the nomination fight to a progressive candidate, CNBC's Natasha Turak reported Tuesday.
“I’d say he’s probably the most likely one to have a chance at beating Donald Trump, but I don’t see Joe getting the nomination, I just don’t see him getting there. I think it’s going be one of these progressives, which I think will be much easier to beat,” Ryan told CNBC at the annual Milken Conference in Abu Dhabi.
The former Wisconsin congressman and vice-presidential candidate said the eventual nominee would have to battle with Trump over the key states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and “I think Joe is probably the hardest to beat, because it’s going to come down to the suburban (voter), it’s going to be the suburbanite that’ll basically be the difference-maker."
Those voters, whom he described as typically right-leaning, white collar workers and first-generation Republicans, "like Trump the idea, they like Trump the disruption — they don’t necessarily like the personality and the noise and the tweets that come with it,” Ryan told CNBC.
“So they’ll be tempted to vote for what they think is a safe moderate — and I think Joe Biden, it’s all relative, will fall into that category, and is the likeliest to be able to win that voter,” but only if he were able to win the nomination, Ryan said.
NBC News Exit Poll: Most New Hampshire Democrats say nominee's gender doesn't matter in race against Trump
When asked whether a female Democratic presidential nominee would be a plus or a minus in the general election battle against President Donald Trump, most New Hampshire primary voters say it doesn’t matter either way.
According to the NBC News Exit Poll, 58 percent of Democratic voters said nominating a woman would make no difference in the party's effort to defeat Trump. Among the remainder, though, more say a female nominee would have a harder time, rather than an easier time, beating Trump.
Women voters (34 percent) are more likely than men (26 percent) to believe that nominating a woman would actually make it harder for the Democrat to win in November.
NBC News Exit Poll: Young New Hampshire Democrats support 'Medicare for All,' free public college
The youngest generation of Democratic Party voters is staking out strongly progressive positions on a wide range of issues — including health care, education and guns — according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll in Tuesday's New Hampshire presidential primary.
Democratic voters ages 18 to 29 resoundingly embrace the idea of making tuition free at public colleges and universities. They strongly agree that stricter gun control laws would reduce gun violence in the U.S. And they express solid support for the “Medicare for All” proposal to replace private health insurance with a single government plan for everyone.
Nearly a third of young Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire describe themselves as “very liberal.”
NBC News Exit Poll: LGBT voters are 7 percent of New Hampshire primary voters
The NBC News Exit Poll found that 7 percent of New Hampshire primary voters are members of the LGBT community.
For comparison, in the nationwide 2018 midterm elections, 6 percent of the electorate was LGBTQ and 82 percent of them voted for Democrats, according to a NBC News exit poll at that time. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer voters are a significant bloc of potential support for any Democratic political hopeful since nearly 9 million are registered to vote, according to an October study from UCLA’s Williams Institute.
According to the Movement Advancement Project, Nevada, which hosts its caucuses on Feb. 22, has the second-highest state per-capita rate of LGBTQ residents at 5.5 percent. Just six other states — California, Oregon, Washington, New York, Massachusetts and Vermont — all have greater than 5 percent LGBTQ population. And all of those states have yet to vote.
NBC News Exit Poll: Lower-income N.H. Democrats strongly favor 'Medicare for All'; wealthier Democrats are split
Voters in Tuesday's New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary generally like the idea of “Medicare for All,” but opinions differ along the lines of income, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll.
The idea of establishing a single government-run health plan runs strong among those with annual family incomes of less than $50,000: 70 percent favor it. But support for the plan slips sharply among Democrats higher up the income ladder. Among those making more than $100,000 per year, opinion on Medicare for All is split, with 47 percent in favor and 49 percent opposed.
NBC News Exit Poll: New Hampshire Democrats disagree on whether some candidates are 'too liberal'
New Hampshire Democratic primary voters find some candidates too liberal and others not liberal enough, according to the NBC News Exit Poll.
The poll found that half of those voting in New Hampshire Tuesday felt that Bernie Sanders is too liberal, and 4 in 10 say the same about Elizabeth Warren. On the other side of the ideological spectrum, 4 in 10 say Joe Biden’s issue positions are not liberal enough, and 2 in 10 say the same about Pete Buttigieg.
In terms of the candidate who seems to be most in line with voters ideologically, Buttigieg comes out on top — 67 percent say his positions on the issues are about right. Less than half say the same for Biden, Warren or Sanders.
NBC News Exit Poll: New Hampshire Democrats divided on return to Obama-era policies
New Hampshire Democratic primary voters are divided on the direction the party should take, according to the NBC News Exit Poll.
Forty percent of Democratic voters want a return to the policies of President Barack Obama, while 38 percent want more liberal policies. And 12 percent would like to see more conservative policies than during Obama’s tenure.
According to the exit poll, 61 percent of New Hampshire Democratic primary voters describe themselves as liberal, which is comparable to prior primaries — slightly higher than in 2008 (56 percent) but slightly lower than in 2016 (68 percent).
NBC News Exit Poll: Moderate Republicans on the decline in New Hampshire GOP primary
Moderate Republicans have staged a disappearing act in New Hampshire's presidential primary, early results from the NBC News Exit Poll show.
Just 19 percent of voters in Tuesday's GOP primary consider themselves moderate or liberal. That’s down sharply from just four years ago, when 29 percent fell into these categories. And it’s a dramatic decline from 2012, when nearly half of those voting in the Republican primary consisted of moderates and liberals.
NBC News Exit Poll: No jump in independents or first-time voters in New Hampshire Democratic primary
There was no jump in independents or first-time voters in Tuesday's New Hampshire Democratic primary, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll.
There was an expectation that the number of independents participating in this year’s Democratic primary might be higher than previous years, since the Republican contest is not competitive. That does not seem to have happened: 43 percent of primary voters report being registered as undeclared on the voter rolls, which is in line with prior Democratic contests when there were also hotly contested Republican races.
The NBC News Exit Poll also found that 12 percent of voters in the New Hampshire Democratic contest are voting in their first presidential primary, down slightly from four years ago.
New Hampshire exit polls: Defeating Trump tops issues for Democratic voters
By a nearly two-to-one margin, New Hampshire voters who cast ballots in Tuesday's Democratic primary said they would rather see a nominee who can beat President Donald Trump in November than one who agrees with them on the issues, according to early data from an NBC News exit poll.
Sixty-two percent of respondents said would rather see a nominee who can beat Trump while 34 percent said that they would prefer one who agrees with them on major issues if they had to choose between the two options.
New Hampshire voters in both parties agree that Trump has emerged from impeachment largely unscathed, the early exit poll data showed.
NBC News Exit Poll: New Hampshire Democratic voters more likely to be female, college graduates
Voters in Tuesday’s New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary are more likely to be female and college graduates than those voting on the Republican side, early results from the NBC News Exit Poll show.
- About a third of GOP primary voters are college graduates, a share that jumps to 55 percent on the Democratic side.
- Women make up 44 percent of those voting in the Republican primary, but they account for 55 percent of those voting in the Democratic primary.
- Compared to Democrats, Republican voters are more than twice as likely to be military veterans.
All of these differences mirror the demographics of Democratic and Republican supporters across the U.S.
Warren campaign outlines post-N.H. path in memo
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign has released a memo that outlines her path after New Hampshire, saying that the road to the Democratic presidential nomination does not rely on “statewide winner-take-all victories.”
In a lengthy memo released Tuesday afternoon, Warren campaign manager Roger Lau laid out the campaign’s strategy going forward, and the flaws in her opponent — something the candidate herself has shied away from on the trail as she makes a “unity” pitch.
The memo relies heavily on the idea that “the early states deliver mixed results for the field” and “no seismic event” shakes up the top three, assuming that the last three viable candidates in the race as of Super Tuesday will be Biden, Sanders and Warren.
“The road to the Democratic nomination is not paved with statewide winner-take-all victories,” Lau wrote in the memo, which was sent to supporters. “This is a district-by-district contest for pledged delegates awarded proportionally.”
“It's not a straightforward narrative captured by glancing at a map, and the process won't be decided by the simple horse race numbers in clickbait headlines. That's never been our focus — our focus is on building a broad coalition to win delegates everywhere,” Lau wrote.
In the latest RealClearPolitics New Hampshire polling average, Warren (with 11 percent), is trailing Sanders (28.7 percent), Buttigieg (21.3 percent) and Klobuchar (11.7 percent.
Lau, nevertheless, goes on to say that, “We're confident in our plan and our path because we know the truth at the heart of the nomination process.”
“No amount of spin and hyperventilation can change the delegate math, and no amount of money can buy a candidate his way back into this race if he can't play for serious delegates on Super Tuesday,” Lau wrote.
Democrats battle for critical New Hampshire vote as polls set to close soon
With polls closing here shortly, Democratic candidates spent the day of New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday talking up their candidacies and taking aim at a rival who isn't even on the ballot here — former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Entering primary day, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was comfortably leading in the polls, trailed by former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Behind them was a three-way battle for third place between a surging Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and former Vice President Joe Biden.
The vote came as last week's Iowa caucus results were being contested. Both Sanders and Buttigieg have claimed victory in the Hawkeye State.
NBC News Exit Poll: Nearly half of New Hampshire Democrats decided in last few days
An unusually large number of New Hampshire Democratic primary voters waited until the final days to settle on a candidate.
Early results from the NBC News Exit Poll show that nearly half say they made up their minds in the last few days, which is higher than the share of late deciders in either 2008 or 2016.
Friday night’s debate seemed to play a critical role for many Democratic voters. Sixteen percent said it was the single most important factor in their decision, and another 32 percent said it was one of several important factors.
NBC News Exit Poll: Most New Hampshire Republicans more loyal to Trump than party
More than half of voters in the New Hampshire Republican primary have greater allegiance to President Donald Trump than the Republican Party, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll. When asked to choose between the two, 54 percent picked Trump, while nearly 4 in 10 said they feel more loyal to the GOP.
Still, Republican voters in the Granite State resoundingly endorsed Trump's performance as president:
- Nearly 9 in 10 voters in the GOP primary say Trump has kept his campaign promises;
- Nearly 9 in 10 also say they are “enthusiastic” or “satisfied” with the Trump administration;
- About 8 in 10 support building a wall along the entire Mexican border, Trump’s signature policy proposal; and
- Almost all (95 percent) voters in the Republican primary say the national economy is either “excellent” or “good.”
Yang: 'If we had a crystal ball, I definitely would have been hanging out here in New Hampshire'
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang said he regretted spending so much time campaigning in Iowa after their botched caucuses there, and said his time would have been better spent in places like New Hampshire.
“If you had a crystal ball, of course you would have spent less time and energy in Iowa because the muddle coming out of it did not help any of us,” Yang said in an interview with MSNBC's Cal Perry on Tuesday.
“It was a real black eye. So if we had a crystal ball, I definitely would have been hanging out here in New Hampshire or someplace else I was about to vote,” he added.
Yang said that the Democratic primary was like a “playoff,” telling NBC that he needed to beat expectations in New Hampshire Tuesday night.
“It's a little bit like a playoff race where you need to get above the people that are ahead of you in the standings, so we need to climb the ranks," he said. "Right now, we're polling at sixth. We want to get up to fifth, fourth, even third."
Yang, who has built up a loyal following but has failed to break into the top tier of candidates, expressed optimism in the final hours of voting in New Hampshire.
"After tonight's totals come in, we think we'll have a head of steam heading into the next states," he said.
NBC News Exit Poll: New Hampshire Republicans, Democrats agree impeachment hasn’t hurt Trump’s re-election chances
New Hampshire voters in both parties agree that President Donald Trump has emerged from impeachment proceedings largely unscathed, at least when it comes to the 2020 election, early results from the NBC News Exit Poll show.
Less than a quarter of those voting in the Democratic primary said Trump’s impeachment hurt his chances of being re-elected. Most Democrats said impeachment made no difference in Trump’s re-election effort. About two-thirds of GOP voters said impeachment has helped Trump; just 5 percent said it hurt his chances.
Biden says he doesn't regret not moving on to South Carolina sooner
Former Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday afternoon that he doesn’t regret not skipping ahead to South Carolina earlier where he might perform better than in New Hampshire.
“No, no, no, no,” Biden said when asked whether he regrets not shifting focus to South Carolina sooner. "We gotta win this state in the general election and I think we're gonna be able to do that," he added about New Hampshire.
A few hours earlier, it was announced that the Bidens would travel to South Carolina, one of the upcoming key primary states, Tuesday night as the votes are still being counted in New Hampshire,
“I'm going down on my supporters to get them moving down in South Carolina, do a little events," Biden said about his plan.
He said that he’ll still speak to supporters in New Hampshire electronically, saying that he plans to “fight til the end, til the polls close,” and added, “and so we’re then gonna move on.”
NBC News Exit Poll: Trump is most important factor for New Hampshire Democrats
Democrats in the first-in-the-nation primary named health care as the most important issue in their vote on Tuesday, followed by climate change, income inequality and foreign policy.
The early NBC News Exit Poll finds, though, that more than 60 percent of New Hampshire Democrats would rather see the party nominate a candidate who can beat President Donald Trump in November than a candidate who agrees with them on the major issues.
Warren on Biden leaving for South Carolina: 'He's not here to fight for the votes in New Hampshire'
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Tuesday that former Vice President Joe Biden's decision to leave New Hampshire for South Carolina later in the day "says that he's not here to fight for the votes in New Hampshire."
"Look, I think that this is what democracy is about. We get out here, we talk to voters and we fight for every vote. That's who I am. I am a fighter,” Warren said when asked by NBC's Ali Vitali what message Biden’s early departure sends to New Hampshire voters.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in response to a similar question Tuesday, "All I can say is we'll be here tonight. We have, as you know, been all over the state."
Meanwhile, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., another Democratic presidential contender, was asked on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” about the extraordinary campaign spending by former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg in his presidential campaign.
“Yeah, it's an extraordinary amount of money,” she said. “But I believe that people do not look at Donald Trump and say, 'Can we get someone richer?' I think they want someone different and someone who is going to be able, as I said at the debate, put themselves in their shoes, and that's what I've got in spades."
Bernie Sanders laments billionaires like Bloomberg 'buying' elections
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday took aim at billionaires like Mike Bloomberg who the Vermont senator said are trying to buy elections.
"This is what I think, you know, Mike Bloomberg and anybody else has every right in the world to run for President of the United States. But I got a real problem with multi-billionaires literally buying elections," Sanders told NBC News' anchor Lester Holt in a "Nightly News" interview.
Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City and is worth $60 billion, has skipped the early primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire and poured more than $100 million on advertising. He has also built a major ground game across the country with 500 organizers and staff in more than 30 states, including all 14 Super Tuesday states. Billionaire activist Tom Steyer has also used his wealth to fund advertisements and build significant campaign infrastructure.
Sanders has repeatedly said he will build the "strongest grassroots movement in the history of politics" and attacked his rivals for taking contributions from wealthy donors. Sanders gained front-runner status on Monday after a new Quinnipiac University had him leading former Vice President Joe Biden nationally.
Top Biden adviser urges calm: 'Huge amount of hyperventilating out there'
Things will only get worse for Joe Biden before they get better, and his campaign knows it.
"You just have to keep going," said former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, a Democrat from New Hampshire who is backing Biden. "It's tough, but nobody said this was going to be easy."
The former vice president has already written off Tuesday’s primary in New Hampshire, announcing hours after polls opened that he's fleeing the state to spend the evening in South Carolina, where he’s counting on his strength with black voters to redeem his struggling campaign in the state's Feb. 29 primary.
But to get there, he’ll have to suffer through 18 days of misery with no obvious source of reinforcements and plenty of battles left to fight that will determine whether he can regain momentum.
Warren visits with supporters — of Biden
Election Confessions, New Hampshire edition
New Hampshire voters will have their chance to choose a Democratic nominee Tuesday, but some residents have already weighed in on the race — anonymously.
NBC News’ Election Confessions heard from people in the state who chimed in on everything from Joe Biden and Barack Obama’s “bromance” to President Donald Trump’s future.
“May you live long ... in the private sector,” one wrote about Trump. “Why does every Mayor of NYC think they would make a great President?” another wrote about the former candidate Bill de Blasio, one of the two 2020 candidates who have worked that job. “Yang is the first time I've been excited for a candidate ever,” a third wrote.
On Election Confessions, people from across the United States have shared more than 60,000 musings about the candidates, the country and its condition. Here are some of the more notable confessions from New Hampshire.
In New Hampshire, iPads and 1891 ballot boxes
The New Hampshire primary offers a look at just how varied elections systems can be.
In two locations, new electronic poll books are being tested alongside the traditional paper-based poll books. Tom Freda, the moderator for the Londonderry, New Hampshire, polling place, said the new tech, which lets people sign in on iPads, "greatly speeds up the process."
"An old paper checklist, voters had to wait in a line that corresponded with their name. The lists had 800-1,000 names on them," Freda said.
Freda noted that the new system had also been used in local elections.
But election advocates say polling places still need a paper poll book backup, and misconfiguration issues have led to long lines or voters being turned away in some cases.
Other polling locations are holding on to their roots. New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner said that more than 40 towns are using ballot boxes that date back to 1891.
"There's no way you can hack that," Gardner said.
OPINION: To win New Hampshire, Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders need independent voters
Every four years, the nation’s focus turns to the small state of New Hampshire, that I call home, and the first real time that the candidates vying for their parties' nominations will face a vote. As someone who was born and raised in Manchester, I have seen countless primaries firsthand as both a resident and later a campaign staffer, and I have been lucky to meet, shake hands and attend town halls with many presidential hopefuls — something that many New Hampshirites view as part of their civic duty.
New Hampshire has always been a battleground state with its treasure trove of independent voters, and it’s no secret that it is a key focus state for Trump's re-election campaign — he even hosted a rally in Manchester on Monday evening. Meanwhile, while spending close to an estimated $150 million in the state, Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden have spent the last week crisscrossing every nook and cranny in the small state trying to drum up as many votes as possible.
But some Democrats have more to lose in New Hampshire than just a primary.
According to polling from The Boston Globe/WBZ-TV/Suffolk University released Thursday, Sanders (23.6 percent) had only a 1 point lead over Buttigieg (22.6 percent) who was surging after his Iowa showing, while Biden was coming in at only 10.6 percent. A 7 News-Emerson College poll conducted over the weekend similarly shows Sanders and Buttigieg in the lead, with Klobuchar and Warren surprisingly ahead of Biden.