Bernie Sanders set for New Hampshire win, Biden and Warren in trouble
Bernie Sanders is the new frontrunner in the Democrat presidential race — but Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren are in deep trouble.
Bernie Sanders is the new frontrunner in the Democrat presidential race after US network projections cast him as the winner of the crucial New Hampshire primary.
Sanders, the flag-bearer for the party’s progressive wing, had 26 percent of votes with most of the count complete in the northeastern state, where he routed Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“Let me take this opportunity to thank the people of New Hampshire for a great victory tonight,” Sanders told cheering supporters after NBC and ABC called the result in his favor.
“This victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump,” the senator from neighboring Vermont added as raised the roof with his rallying cry for fairer taxes and health care reform.
Indiana ex-mayor Pete Buttigieg finished in second place at 24 percent as he readied for the more difficult battlegrounds ahead.
“Now our campaign moves on to Nevada, to South Carolina, to communities across our country. And we will welcome new allies to our movement at every step,” he said.
Midwestern moderate Amy Klobuchar maintained a late surge to place third on about 20 percent, while liberal Elizabeth Warren finished in fourth at about nine percent.
The poll was a major setback for former Vice President Joe Biden who was coming a disappointing fifth on only 8.6 per cent and whose campaign is now struggling to survive.
The 77-year-old Mr Biden didn’t even stay in New Hampshire to wait for the results, choosing instead to fly to South Carolina to campaign in that state which holds its primary late this month.
Speaking as the results came in a defiant Mr Biden said he was not planning to quit the race.
“It ain’t over, it’s just getting started,” he said. He claimed he would rebound on the back of strong support from African American and Latino voters in the larger states.
It was also a disappointing result for progressive candidate Senator Warren, who was coming a distant fourth on 9.4 per cent and whose campaign may now be doomed.
Senator Sanders, who had a virtual dead heat for first place with Mr Buttigieg in last week’s Iowa caucus, will now be the early favourite to win the nomination to take on Donald Trump in December.
Senator Sanders, whose state of Vermont shares a border with New Hampshire, easily won the New Hampshire primary in 2016 against Hillary Clinton although he did not go onto win the nomination.
The biggest surprise in the New Hampshire result was Senator Klobuchar’s strong performance.
The result came after a late surge in the polls by the moderate 59 year old after a strong performance in last week’s Democrat debate. In last week’s Iowa caucus, Senator Klobuchar won only 12.3 per cent of the vote.
The strong result makes her a viable candidate going to the next two contests in Nevada and South Carolina which have more diverse populations that the first two polling states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Mr Biden, who is popular with African Americans and Latinos is expected to perform more strongly Nevada and South Carolina but his poor showing in Iowa, where he came fourth, and now in New Hampshire threatens his prospects for a revival in those states.
Senator Warren, speaking as the vote was counted, called on Democrats to show greater party unity, calling of warring candidates not to ‘burn down the rest of the party’ is the fight to win the party’s nomination.
One of the outsider candidates, entrepreneur Andrew Yang dropped out after the poll result after failing to win more than three per cent of the vote. His withdrawal leaves 10 candidates in the Democratic race.
Warren congratulates Sanders
Elizabeth Warren has taken to the stage at her New Hampshire event to congratulate Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, who are vying for first place in America’s first primary of the 2020 race.
Ms Warren also congratulated Amy Klobuchar, who in early results in the critical Democrat primary is already leading her by nearly 10 points.
“Right now it is clear that Senator Sanders and Mayor Buttigieg had strong nights,” she said, adding that Ms Klobuchar also had a strong showing.
With 39 percent of the results in, Mr Sanders is leading the field on 27.7 percent, followed by Pete Buttigieg on 23.2 percent. Ms Klobuchar is on 19. percent with Ms Warrent on 10.3 percent. Joe Biden is trailing the field on 8.2 percent.
Supporters of Mr. Sanders who were gathered in a college gymnasium cheered and chanted “Bernie” every time CNN, showed Mr. Sanders leading in the partial results.
Mr Biden left New Hampshire early, failing to show up for his own results party, a sign of how badly he expects to do in the crucial primary. Instead, he headed to South Carolina, the fourth state to hold a vote at the end of the month. He desperately needs a win there to revive his campaign after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucus.
Before the primary Mr Sanders had a last-minute surge of support to cement his favouritism , while former vice-president Joe Biden continues to slide in the polls.
The candidates crisscrossed New Hampshire for a final frantic day of campaigning ahead of the primary that is likely to confirm the democratic socialist Senator Sanders and Mr Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor, as the frontrunners for the Democrat nomination to challenge President Donald Trump in November. Both candidates were virtual equal winners in last week’s Iowa caucuses.
The latest polls also showed outsider Ms Klobuchar has had a late surge of support following last week’s strong debate performance and could even leapfrog Elizabeth Warren and Mr Biden to claim third place. Any candidate who finishes outside the top three in New Hampshire will struggle to resurrect their presidential campaign.
The latest RealClearPolitics average of polls showed Senator Sanders — whose home state of Vermont borders New Hampshire — as the clear favourite with 28.5 per cent support. Mr Buttigieg was second on 22 per cent.
Senator Sanders easily defeated Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire in 2016, although she still went on to win the party’s nomination.
Polls suggest a close race in the state for third, with Senator Warren on 12.3 per cent, narrowly ahead of Mr Biden on 11.5 per cent and Senator Klobuchar on 11 per cent. But momentum was with senators Sanders and Klobuchar, whose poll ratings in the 24 hours before the poll jumped from 26.1 per cent to 28.5 for Senator Sanders and from 8.7 per cent to 11 per cent for Senator Klobuchar.
By contrast Mr Biden, the former frontrunner in New Hampshire and nationally, slid from 12.7 per cent to 11.5 per cent in the 24 hours before the ballot, amid speculation that his campaign will soon be doomed.
But the 77-year-old played down the importance of the New Hampshire result, saying he would do better in later-voting states, which had a greater proportion of minorities.
“The other voters out there represent a significant portion of the American people, and they look like America,” Mr Biden said. “This is just getting started … I feel confident about where we are.”
Senator Warren, whose campaign has struggled after her third-place finish in Iowa, also dismissed speculation that she might end her bid if she did not perform well in New Hampshire.
“I cannot say to all those little girls: ‘This got hard and I quit.’ My job is to persist,” she said.
Senator Sanders, who finished his campaign with a huge rally in Durham with indie band The Strokes, told his supporters they had a chance to transform the country if they voted for his radical agenda.
“Tomorrow you have a choice,” he said.
“You have a choice about going forward and voting for a candidate who will defeat Donald Trump. You have the option to vote for a campaign which will not only defeat Trump but which will transform this country.”
Senator Klobuchar, a moderate from the Midwest, has been trapped in single-digit figures for her campaign but has seen her support and donations soar after a strong performance in last week’s Democrat debate. She dismissed claims that Mr Buttigieg was the only “fresh-faced” candidate in the 11-person race.
“I am also a fresh new face in politics … my age, 59, is the new 38,” she said. “Second thing is, I’ve actually gotten things done in Washington.”
Although there are still 11 candidates in the race, the New Hampshire poll is likely to see as many as half of them retire from the race in the coming weeks if the results confirm they are not viable contenders.
Billionaire candidate Michael Bloomberg will not contest the first four states, including New Hampshire, but will join the Democrats’ primary contests from next month.
Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia
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