Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took another step toward securing the 2020 Democratic Presidential nomination with a win in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.
Sanders walked away with more than 26% of the vote, ahead of former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (24), Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar (20), Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (9), former Vice President Joe Biden (8), businessman Tom Steyer (4), and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (3).
Warren, Biden, Steyer and Gabbard failed to earn any of the state’s 24 delegates.
DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE – FEBRUARY 10: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a campaign event at the Whittemore Center Arena on February 10, 2020 in Durham, New Hampshire. The state’s Democratic primary is tomorrow. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Businessman Andrew Yang and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet both suspended their campaigns shortly after polls closed.
“There’s part of me that feels disappointed, like I didn’t fulfill some people’s goals for this campaign,” Yang said of the decision. “There’s also a competitive part of me too — like I can’t believe I lost to these people.”
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not appear on the ballot in New Hampshire, though he has seen a bump in recent weeks following massive advertising campaigns. He has even moved passed Warren into third place in some polls and will appear on the stage at the next Democratic primary debate.
Sanders, coming off a strong showing at the Iowa caucuses, entered the day with a roughly 7 point in-state lead over Buttigieg, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average. Sanders and Buttigieg earned 12 and 13 DNC delegates in Iowa respectively, and Sanders had long been projected to win in New Hampshire, given the proximity of his home state and resounding victory of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primary.
He specifically thanked his “hardworking volunteers” for helping deliver his victory, and during his watch party speech, he called Tuesday night the “beginning of the end for Donald Trump.”
He added that his campaign will continue to “take on billionaires and campaigns funded by billionaires.”
WATCH:
Perhaps the largest surprise of the night came from Biden, who announced earlier in the day that he would forgo the state’s victory party and head straight to South Carolina. (RELATED: Joe Biden To Skip New Hampshire Party, Head Straight To South Carolina)
Biden’s poll numbers had plummeted in recent weeks. He held a 6 point lead over Sanders at the end of January in the RCP average, but following a disappointing fourth place finish in Iowa, he entered the New Hampshire primary trailing Sanders by nearly 4 points.
MANCHESTER, NH – FEBRUARY 10: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event on February 10, 2020 in Manchester, New Hampshire. New Hampshire holds its first in the nation primary tomorrow. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Additionally, Biden’s support among black voters, long viewed as his campaign’s firewall, dropped significantly after Iowa. A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday showed his support among black voters had fallen from 52 percent in in January to just 27 heading into New Hampshire. (RELATED: Top Six Dem Candidates Beat Trump In Head-To-Head With Bloomberg Holding Largest Margin And Biden Imploding)
According to exit polls conducted by CBS News, nearly half of all voters decided on who to vote for in the “last few days.” CBS also found that more than 90 percent of participants expressed displeasure with the job President Donald Trump has done in office, with nearly two-thirds answering they would rather have a candidate who could beat Trump in the general election than one with whose policies they agree.
The next state to assign delegates for the Democratic National Convention is Nevada on February 22. The Nevada Democratic Party just announced they would not use the app they had commissioned to tally caucus results following the disaster in Iowa.
