New Hampshire Primary Winners Built Early Leads Against Rivals


The New Hampshire primary took place on Tuesday night, where Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders won by huge margins against their rivals.

Trump, 69, who came to the primaries in second place after losing to Ted Cruz in Iowa, built a commanding lead early and never looked back. When all the votes were counted, he led everyone with 35.3 percent, more than twice the votes of his runner-up, Ohio Gov. John Kasich who got 15.8 percent.

Even before the New Hampshire primary, Trump was slated as a highly probable winner, although there were also speculations that Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio were imminent threats to Trump’s bid for a win in the state.

“We’re really happy about it,” Trump said in an interview on Wednesday. “Really great.”

In the wake of Trump’s huge win, reports surfaced that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie may have called it quits. He did not proceed to South Carolina for the campaign and announced on Wednesday that he is dropping his bid for presidency. Business executive Carly Fiorina has also dropped out of the race after getting only four percent.

Meanwhile, Sanders, 74, who won the Democratic primaries, is definitely riding high on his momentum. Even before the New Hampshire primary, he was seen as a tough rival to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, despite the fact that it was Clinton who won the Iowa caucus.

The self-professed democratic socialist is a fierce challenger for the Democratic nomination, and he continues to be the choice of younger voters. In the New Hampshire primary, Sanders got 60.4 percent of the votes while his lone rival only got 38 percent.

“What began last week in Iowa, what voters here in New Hampshire confirmed tonight, is nothing short of the beginning of a political revolution,” Sanders said after the results were revealed.

On the other hand, Clinton, 68, has once again become the underdog after leading the Democratic polls by double digits later last year. While the former First Lady has been advocating the rights of women, she in fact lost the female vote by 11 points in New Hampshire.

The more she continues to push for the more practical and feasible side of development and progress in the country, the more some people clamor for a candidate who does not only lay out goals and plans, but also aims to change the entire system altogether.

Following the New Hampshire primary, the two winners took short time off on the campaign trail and headed to New York. Trump is based in New York City, so he basically went back home. Meanwhile, Sanders met with civil rights activist Al Sharpton.

Sharpton, 61, who is an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, met with Sanders in NYC, where they dined together in the Harlem neighborhood. The two reportedly dined at Sylvia’s, which is the same restaurant where Sharpton met with then-Democratic candidate Barack Obama in 2008.

The meeting could be one step that Sanders took in order to find a way to bridge the gap between him and Hillary Clinton in the recent South Carolina polls, where she leads by double digits. In order to have a chance in the primaries, Sanders has to woo the African American community in the state, as well as other minorities.

In the report, Sharpton will also meet with Clinton next week, and after that he will most likely reveal his endorsement.

The next caucuses are in Nevada, which would take place on February 20 for the Democrats and February 23 for the Republicans. The South Carolina primaries will commence on February 20 for Republicans and February 27 for Democrats.

[Images by Alex Wong, Ethan Miller, Getty Images]

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