CONCORD, N.H. — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire by an impressive margin Tuesday, holding a rough lead of 20 points over Clinton late Tuesday, 60 percent to 39 percent.
It was a big win for Sanders, who finished a close second to Clinton in the Iowa caucuses.
Sanders, jabbing his finger as he spoke, delivered his victory message slowly and from notes. Behind him stood his wife Jane and other family members.
“Together, we have sent a message that will echo from Wall Street to Washington and from Maine to California that the government of this great nation belongs to all of the people and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors and their super PACs,” Sanders said to a jam-packed crowd in a high school auditorium after Clinton conceded.
The decisive win gives Sanders more delegates than Clinton, but perhaps more importantly adds to his momentum going into the Nevada and South Carolina primaries, competitions where he is now behind Clinton in the polls.
Sanders credited the win in New Hampshire to high voter turnout.
“Because of a huge voter turnout — and I say huuuuuge — we won,” Sanders said. “We harnessed the energy and excitement that the Democratic Party will need to succeed in November.”
Clinton called Sanders shortly after 8 p.m. to concede the New Hampshire primary.
For Clinton, the defeat was a sharp contrast from a year ago when her nomination as the candidate for the Democratic Party appeared all but secure. In recent months she had been lagging in the polls in the Granite State, but continued to doggedly fight for votes.
The former secretary of state, who lost the nomination to President Obama in 2008, vowed to fight on. She said she would dust off the New Hampshire defeat.
“It’s not whether you get knocked down that matters,” Clinton said. “It’s whether you get back up.”
Several hundred people squeezed into the gym for Sanders victory speech, as well as dozens of reporters from all over the world. The crowd unleashed ear-busting cheers that reverberated throughout the gym after his big lines, and the bleachers shook as the Sanderistas stomped.
Sanders stuck to his main message, though some points were abridged. But even with cuts, his remarks clocked in around 30 minutes, the longest of any candidate.
In a celebratory speech following a surprise second place showing on the Republican side, Ohio Gov. John Kasich joked: “Bernie talked so long I thought he was going to hit his 77th birthday.” Sanders is 74.
Toward the end of his victory speech, Sanders, like other candidates, took advantage of the TV viewership and made a direct pitch for donations. He said while other candidates would be heading off to fancy fundraisers, he wanted to continue the small-donation approach.
“Please help us raise the funds we need, whether it’s 10 bucks, 20 bucks, or 50 bucks,” Sanders said, telemarketing his plea to the world.
“So, there it is, that’s our fundraiser,” he concluded. “Pretty quick.”
Around the state Tuesday, the atmosphere was that of a storm before the calm.
Radio ads clogged up the airwaves, hundreds of lawn signs dotted highway exits and onramps, and campaign buses and satellite television trucks cluttered streets.
The most intricate Sanders yard setup was seen on North River Pond in Northwood, a collection of campaign lawn signs, homemade messages, even a calendar with Feb. 9 — primary day — circled in red ink.
Across from the Sanders setup, on a neighbor’s lawn hugging the pond, was a simple cardboard cutout reading “No to Socialism.”
Throughout the day Tuesday, Sanders supporters praised his grassroots fundraising methods and condemnation of super PACS.
Another consistent message from New Hampshire Sanders supportes was their hope that coupled with his Iowa showing, a big win in New Hampshire would put to rest questions about Sanders’ electability.
In Rochester, a rural town a stone’s throw away from Maine, Lauren Rouleau said Sanders’ message was resonating for her in the same way Obama’s promise of hope and change did in 2008.
She said that if Sanders clenched a big win “I want most cable news networks to stop using the clause ‘the unlikely candidate Bernie Sanders’. I don’t think that’s fair anymore.”
In left-leaning Dover, John Gesek said that New Hampshire prided itself on boosting candidates.
“We are going, ‘You know what, Bernie’s got a message of change,” Gesek said. “We don’t know if it’s going to continue on in other states, but let’s try and give that ball a push and see what happens.”
Forty miles south in Manchester, Benjamin Ray, 18, said he voted for Sanders because of his promise to address wealth inequality.
Ray said he had canvassed for Sanders, adding that the Vermont senator had ignited a political passion he never thought he had.
In the middle of a gap year before going to Bowdoin College in Maine, Ray said he might now study political science.
He spoke about the need for change, and for a more progressive Democratic Party. But when asked if he thought Sanders’ platform could be broadly adopted this election, Ray’s optimism fizzled.
“Honestly, right now, I’d say it’s probably not viable,” he said. “And I’m sad when I say that. But it doesn’t make me any less passionate about the cause.”
A large portion of the Sanders Granite State staffers are packing up in the next day or so and moving to Nevada ahead of the caucuses, on Feb. 20.
Others are going to South Carolina, and a number of high-profile surrogates have been in the Palmetto State for the last few days, including Ben Jealous, the youngest-ever president of the NAACP, serving from 2008 to 2013.
Spokesman Michael Briggs said the campaign saw potential in a number of upcoming voting states, including Colorado, Massachusetts and Minnesota.
“We like our chances in Vermont on Super Tuesday too,” Briggs added.
