New Hampshire primary results: Bernie Sanders wins vote as Democratic field thins out

New Hampshire Rally: Elizabeth Warren battles to stay in the Democratic race

Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primaries, declaring victory in the first-in-the-nation vote and paving an even clearer potential path to securing the nomination and moving onto the general election against Donald Trump.

After essentially tying in Iowa last week, the strong showings from Pete Buttigieg, who appeared to place in second, and Mr Sanders cemented their status at the top of the 2020 Democratic field.

And an unexpectedly strong performance from Amy Klobuchar gave her a stronger path out of New Hampshire as the contest moves on to the gantlet of state-by-state primary contests that lie ahead.

The strength of Mr Sanders and Mr Buttigieg was matched in reverse by the struggle of former Vice President Joe Biden, who spent most of the last year as the Democrats’ national front-runner but fled New Hampshire hours before polls closed anticipating a bad finish.

With final returns ahead, he was competing for fourth place with Elizabeth Warren, a disappointing turn for the senator from neighbouring Massachusetts.

Neither Mr Biden nor Ms Warren were on track to receive any delegates.

“So many of you chose to meet a new era of challenge with a new generation of leadership,” Mr Buttigieg said.

Meanwhile, Mr Sanders boasted of “a movement from coast to coast ... to defeat the most dangerous president."

Meanwhile, two candidates dropped out amid the crucial New Hampshire vote.

Michael Bennet, a Colorado Senator and former 2020 hopeful, told supporters on Tuesday: “I love you, New Hampshire. Whether you knew it or not, we were having a great time together.”

He added: “I think it’s fitting for us to end the campaign tonight.”

The announcement came just after Andrew Yang, another low-polling Democratic presidential candidate, announced he was suspending his campaign amid the first-in-the-nation primary.

“They’ve decided tonight, and tonight is not going to be our night, but let me say this to New Hampshire: You may see me once again, so thank you”, Mr Bennet said.

Mr Yang, who announced the suspension of his candidacy just moments before Mr Bennet, was the last candidate of colour to qualify for the debate stages, effectively leaving a still-crowded field of all-white candidates vying for the Democratic nomination.

Additional reporting by Associated Press. See live updates from the New Hampshire primaries as they came in below.

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Key Points

• Bernie Sanders holds lead during first-in-the-nation primary
• Amy Klobuchar sees polling surge into third place
• Joe Biden slips in the polls to fifth place
• Elizabeth Warren campaign releases attack memo claiming underdog status in crowded race

[11 February 2020 21:35 · Chris Riotta]

The Independent's Clark Mindock has some surprising information from the field in New Hampshire:

In my extremely unscientific poll of voters here at ward 2, the portion of Republican voters who say they voted for Bill Weld over Trump are actually higher than you might expect.

One of those voters I spoke to was Duane Howard, 72, who noted that he had to vote in the Republican primary because, while New Hampshire lets registered independents vote for either party, those with party affiliation have to vote with that party.

“He was the right candidate for the Republican Party,” he said. Trump “has been a disappointment on the world stage. A disappointment to me.”

Noting he votes for “the person not the party”, Howard said he would vote for Sanders in the general election if he had the chance.

“Yes, absolutely,” he said.

Another Republican who passed by said he is definitely voting for Trump in the general election. But he could’ve seen himself voting for someone else in 2016 if Hillary Clinton wasn’t the Democratic nominee.“Hillary was why I voted for Trump in 2016,” the voter, named Chen, said.

[11 February 2020 21:52 · Chris Riotta]

Elizabeth Warren’s campaign addressed apparent flaws among her fellow Democratic presidential hopefuls who are leading the pack in the 2020 primaries in a newly-released memo

The memo, written by the Massachusetts senator’s campaign manager, Roger Law, reportedly described a “ceiling” of support for Bernie Sanders, another progressive candidate who has polled at the top of the crowded field ahead of the state’s first-in-the-nation primary. 

It also predicted Joe Biden’s campaign could soon collapse following the former vice president’s weak showing in Iowa, according to the Associated Press. 

Story to come...

[11 February 2020 22:18 · Chris Riotta]

Here's my latest on the new memo from Elizabeth Warren's 2020 campaign that appears to paint the progressive Massachusetts senator as an underdog ahead of the crucial New Hampshire vote:

[11 February 2020 22:30 · Chris Riotta]

Once again, the president is inflating the size of his crowds following last night's re-election rally in New Hampshire:

[11 February 2020 22:40 · Chris Riotta]

Donald Trump revealed at the White House that he would rather run against billionaire presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

“Frankly I’d rather run against Bloomberg than Bernie Sanders, because Sanders has real followers,” Mr Trump said on Tuesday. “Whether you like them or not, whether you agree with them or not — I happen to think it’s terrible what he says — but he has followers.” 

The president added: “Bloomberg is just buying his way in.”

Story to come...

[11 February 2020 23:16 · Chris Riotta]

Here's Clark Mindock, who is on the ground in New Hampshire, with more on what to look out for in tonight's vote:

[11 February 2020 23:30 · Chris Riotta]

Amy Klobuchar has made appealing to Independents and Republicans a part of her closing argument in New Hampshire, suggesting leading candidates like Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg are incapable of building a diverse coalition of voters.

[11 February 2020 23:42 · Chris Riotta]

Health care is among the most important issues to voters, with the largest majority of respondents in early exit polling citing it as their top issue in the 2020 presidential election. 

[11 February 2020 23:52 · Chris Riotta]

New Hampshire voters have largely said they are seeking a candidate to take on Donald Trump in the general election. 

A reported 62 per cent of respondents in an NBC News exit poll saying they would rather have a Democratic nominee capable of unseating the Republican incumbent, compared to 34 per cent who would rather a candidate more in-line with their issues. 

[12 February 2020 00:05 · Chris Riotta]

If you’re looking for some political comedic relief tonight in the midst of the potentially stressful New Hampshire primary vote, look no further than ‘The Conners’, which reportedly plans to address the first-in-the-nation primary during a live episode on Tuesday night. 

Bruce Helford, a show runner and executive producer, told the Associated Press: “It’s the Conners version, which is basically, ‘We’re not looking for anybody we love to vote for. We're just looking for the one that's gonna screw us the least. So if it's that cynical, we've been beat up a long time. We're just looking for some relief.”