New Hampshire voters head to polls Tuesday

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks in front of a crowd on Jan. 19 at the Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center. Trump talked about economic and healthcare reforms. At the rally he was endorsed by former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin.

Alex Hanson

It’s been a week since Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton were declared the winner of the Iowa Caucus, and now the attention is on New Hampshire voters, who head to the polls Tuesday for the first-in-the-nation primary.

If polls are any indication of what will happen, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders look poised to walk away quickly with wins, although other polls show that some voters in the granite state are prone to make up their mind in the voting booth.

An average of polls from Real Clear Politics shows Trump leading his closest competitor, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, by 16.3 percent. The race for second might be the most interesting, as Rubio, and Govs. Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and John Kasich, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, are all near the middle of the pack.

On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders leads Hillary Clinton by 12.8 percent in the RCP average, although polls from the past week have shown Sanders leading by as much as 23 percent.

Clinton has not decided to skip out on the state, though, continuing campaigning this weekend, including knocking on doors personally and continuing meeting with voters in intimate settings.

While the race for Trump and Sanders may seem like an easy win, a poll from NPR affiliate WBUR in Boston showed that a large chunk of voters are not totally sure on who they will vote for.

Just 29 percent of Democrats and 38 percent of Republicans were “sure” on their choice. 

All eyes have been on the candidates and New Hampshire, including a forum and a debate broadcast nationally for Democrats last week and a debate for Republicans this past weekend.

ISU political experts agreed after a forum on the Iowa Caucuses that Rubio has some momentum going into voting Tuesday, but Rubio was widely seen as a loser from Saturday’s debate following an onslaught of attacks from governors in the race.

Rubio repeated a line about President Obama wanting to “change” America instead of “fixing it.” Christie went after Rubio, mocking him for repeating the line almost half-a-dozen times in the debate.

The Democratic side also saw the debate turn negative, as Sanders and Clinton sparred on the true meaning of the term “progressive,” with both sides arguing about their liberal credentials and going after each other. 

Former President Bill Clinton also was on the campaign trail for his wife, going after Sanders and his supporters for what he called “sexist” attacks toward the former secretary of state. 

Polls in New Hampshire are open in most precincts until 7 p.m. Eastern Time. Follow politics editor Alex Hanson on Twitter (@theAlexHanson) for results and watch our website for quick results as they come in.