Sanders wins

Tuesday, 2/11, 11:14 p.m. (Colin Meyn)

Sen. Bernie Sanders has won the New Hampshire primary.

The Vermont senator narrowly beat out former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klouchar, D-Minn., to take the majority of the 24 delegates up for grabs in the first-in-the-nation-primary. 

Neither Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., met the minimum votes required to receive any delegates.

NBC News called the race shortly after 10:30 p.m.

Read the full report from VTDigger’s Kit Norton here.


Buttigieg gives shout out to Sanders

Tuesday, 2/11, 11:00 p.m. (Colin Meyn)

Pete Buttigieg spoke to his supporters shortly before 11 p.m., with less than 2 points separating him and Sen. Bernie Sanders in the first-in-the-nation primary.

“I admired Senator Sanders when I was a high school student, I respect him greatly to this day, and I congratulate him on a strong showing tonight,” Buttigieg said at the start of his speech.

News outlets have yet to call the race, though it’s clear that Sanders and Buttigieg will again finish as the top two vote getters. The New York Times says Sanders has a 78% chance of victory.

With more than 83% of precincts reporting, Sanders is at 26.1% and Buttigieg is at 24.3%, according to the Washington Post.

Buttigieg closes the gap

Tuesday, 2/11, 10:00 p.m. (Colin Meyn)

Sen. Bernie Sanders is still the favorite to win, but with two-thirds of votes counted, Pete Buttigieg is still in the fight.

And it has polling guru Nate Silver thinking about whether Buttigieg could pull ahead before it’s all over.

Still too close to call

Tuesday, 2/11, 9:02 p.m. (Colin Meyn/Kit Norton)

The New York Times forecast is becoming less certain as more votes come in, but Sanders is still the favorite. (as of 8:52)

The crowd at Sanders HQ is beginning to chant “Bernie, Bernie, Bernie” with 24% of precincts reporting and Sanders in the lead.

The Vermont senator has 28% ahead of former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s 23% and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is in third with 19.7%, according to the Associated Press.

Sanders is not expected to speak until later in the night.

Some photos of the scene from Mike Dougherty/VTDigger

Good vibes at Bernie’s base

Tuesday, 2/11, 8:06 p.m. (Kit Norton)

The crowd at the Sanders’ watch party is trickling in as early results are beginning to come in.

A CNN live stream of the results is up on a large jumbotron and with every update showing Sanders in the lead the crowd cheers.

Morale is high among Sanders’ supporters as people chat while eating twisted pretzels and hot dogs before entering the Southern New Hampshire University basketball court, which is being used for the watch party.

Members of the local, national and international press are mulling and making small talk — and sending in the occasional dispatch for live blogs.

The crowd is starting to fill up the Southern New Hampshire University basketball court, which is being used for the Sanders watch party. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger

Sanders takes (very) early lead

Tuesday, 2/11, 7:50 p.m. (Colin Meyn)

Results are starting to spill in and Vermont’s senator has jumped to the top of the results — where many primary watchers expect him to stay.

Here at VTDigger HQ, we’re watching the New York Times results page, #NHprimary2020 on Twitter, and playing the New Hampshire Public Radio livestream.

Our political reporters Kit Norton and Xander Landen are with digital editor Mike Dougherty at Sanders’ primary party. Stay tuned!

Klobuchar still in the lead…


Tuesday, 2/11, 6:50 p.m. (Colin Meyn)

It’s been a great day for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who has remained atop the field throughout the day with 8 of the 27 votes cast in Dixville Notch, Hart’s Location and Millsfield shortly after midnight. 

With about 10 minutes until polls start to close at 7 p.m., that could change quickly. 

The latest polling averages from FiveThirtyEight have Klobuchar in fifth place behind Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, and former Vice President Joe Biden. 

Sanders is in the lead at 26%, followed by Buttigieg at 21.6%.

A last-minute change of heart

Tuesday, 2/11, 6:10 p.m. (Xander Landen)

Richard Floreani was still undecided when he showed up at the polls on Tuesday afternoon. 

Before the 80-year-old retired airline pilot and Navy veteran cast his ballot at the town’s local elementary school, he didn’t know whether he was going to vote for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former South Bend Indiana Mayor, Pete Buttigieg, or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. 

At first, Floreani wanted to vote with his “heart,” and support either Sanders, or Warren—the more progressive candidates in the race.

But after taking stock of the recent impeachment proceedings, and the Senate’s acquittal of President Donald Trump, he decided that he needed to support the candidate he believes is best-equipped defeat the Republican incumbent in November: Buttigieg. 

“He’s more moderate, he’s more likely to appeal to independents,” Floreani said. 

“It’s more important to get Donald Trump out. Period,” he added. “It’s more important than my personal politics.” 

Bernie’s in it to win it

Tuesday, 2/11, 1:00 p.m. (Kit Norton)

With hours left before the polls will close, Sen. Bernie Sanders said he is hoping to celebrate a win in New Hampshire.

Outside the McDonough Elementary School, a Manchester polling location, the Vermont senator greeted supporters before thanking his volunteers and staff in the Granite State.

“All I can say is we have worked really hard. Our volunteers have done an extraordinary job and I hope very much that we are going to win here tonight,” Sanders said.

Half an hour before Sanders arrived at the polling location, about 750 people had already cast ballots with a steady trickle of people through the early afternoon.

Daron Abbe, a young man who declined to give his age, said before Tuesday he had been torn between voting for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg or Sanders.

“I think the three of them are the candidates, they preach to what I believe in,” Abbe said after casting his ballot.

Abbe added that, after some deliberation, he had decided to vote for the Vermont senator.

“I’ve been for Bernie Sanders since 2016, I just think he’s the one in all the candidates I think should be able to withstand the man in the White House right now,” he said.

Bernie Sanders
Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks with the media outside the polling station at the McDonough Elementary School in Manchester on Tuesday. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

Dunbarton dispatch

Tuesday, 2/11, 1:00 p.m. (Xander Landen)

The small town of Dunbarton saw a steady stream of voters heading to the polls on Tuesday morning. Dunbarton, which has just under 3000 residents, leans conservative, and voted for President Donald Trump by 57% in 2016.

“The Democrats are the minority in this town,” said Susan Jamback, an organizer with the town’s Democratic committee.

But Democratic voters were turning out Tuesday morning. Porter Weeks said he voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. He thinks the Vermont senator has a strong chance of beating Trump in November.

While Republicans criticize Sanders as a “socialist,” Weeks said Trump should be criticized for redistributing wealth to high income earners.

“It’s just putting money into other hands,” he said. “The rich hands as opposed to the working class.”

Susan Jamback
Porter and Brittany Weeks

Sanders keeps a light schedule on the big day

Tuesday, 2/11, 11:20 a.m. (Kit Norton)

After drawing a crowd of 7,600 in Durham Monday night, Sen. Bernie Sanders has a light event schedule on primary day. 


The campaign says the Vermont senator’s schedule is subject to change, but as of Tuesday morning, he will be visiting a polling location in Manchester at 12:00 p.m. and then attend his watch primary results watch party at 7:30 p.m. 

The Sanders campaign have put in long days in the lead up to Feb. 11, but today there are only two surrogates expected to be involved in “get out the vote” events: Cornel West, the political activist and professor, was in Nashua early in the morning and at noon Vermont Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman will in Littleton to rally canvassers.

Tale of two rallies

Tuesday, 2/11, 6:45 a.m. (Mike Dougherty)

It’s officially Primary Day.

Last night — or, as Sanders house band The Strokes would say, “laaaast niiiite” — Sen. Bernie Sanders and President Donald Trump held dueling campaign rallies in front of capacity crowds in Durham and Manchester, respectively. While Trump mostly used his remarks to tout how well the economy has fared under his leadership, he also stressed that he would defeat whomever the Democratic nominee for president is, adding that all the candidates are taking “their cues from Crazy Bernie.”

Read a full recap from Kit Norton and Xander Landen.

President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Monday, ahead of the state's first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday. Photo by Kit Norton/VTDigger
Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks during a rally in Durham, New Hampshire, on Monday, ahead of the state's first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday. Photo by Anna Watts for VTDigger

Monday, 2/10, 5:30 p.m.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is a frontrunner heading into Tuesday’s New Hampshire Democratic primary — but his competitors have been making their own final pushes to reach voters. VTDigger’s political team will be reporting from across the Granite State on Tuesday. We’ll update this post throughout the day with scenes from campaign stops and far-flung polling places, and we’ll head to the Sanders headquarters as returns come in.

Until then, catch up with our latest reports from New Hampshire:

… and follow VTDigger on Twitter and Instagram for more updates from the field.

child on ground at bernie rally
The crowd at a Bernie Sanders campaign stop at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire, on Monday. Photo by Anna Watts/VTDigger

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