Trump, Sanders easily win in New Hampshire, Kasich second in GOP race

After securing his place in the top three in the Republican caucuses, presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke briefly to a crowd at his watch party Feb. 2 in West Des Moines. Trump said, “I love you people, I love you people, thank you very much.”

Alex Hanson

Iowa residents may be relieved that the politicians are gone and the political ads are over, but campaigning continues across the country — specifically New Hampshire, where all eyes were on the first-in-the-nation primary Tuesday night.

At 11:30 p.m. Monday, 83% of precincts were reporting, but major news organizations made the call in each race very early — seconds after every poll had closed at 8 p.m. local time.

On the Republican side, businessman Donald Trump easily won the GOP race, with more than double the votes of his closest competitor, Ohio Gov. John Kasich. The race for third place is close, but U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the winner of the Iowa Caucus last week, had a slight lead over former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida had a disappointing night, he admitted in a speech to supporters, following his surprise close finish with Trump in Iowa. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has decided to take a break from campaigning and head back to his home state to reassess his campaign.

Despite coming in the bottom two positions, political outsiders Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina said they will continue on with their campaigns.

With only two candidates on the Democratic side, the race is much easier to follow: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont easily defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by over 40,000 votes. 

Here are the current vote totals, according to the Associated Press.

REPUBLICANS:

  • Donald Trump: 87,344 (35 percent)
  • John Kasich: 39,544 (16 percent)
  • Ted Cruz: 28,566 (12 percent)
  • Jeb Bush: 27,529 (12 percent)
  • Marco Rubio: 26,142 (11 percent)
  • Chris Christie: 18,869 (8 percent)
  • Carly Fiorina: 10,325 (4 percent)
  • Ben Carson: 5,618 (2 percent)
  • Jim Gilmore: 119 (less than 1 percent)

Notes: Along with the nine major candidates still in the race, 21 other names appeared on the ballot, including dropouts Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, George Pataki, Lindsey Graham and Bobby Jindal.

Write-in candidates received 1,561 votes, or just over 1 percent.

At least two long-shot candidates from New Hampshire — Richard Witz, a retired custodian from Needham, N.H., and Andy Martin, a perennial candidate from the state — who received ballot access were able to bring in more votes than former candidates Santorum, Pataki, Graham and Jindal, and current candidate Gilmore.

DEMOCRATS:

  • Bernie Sanders: 128,803 (60 percent)
  • Hillary Clinton: 83,318 (39 percent)

Notes: 25 other candidates are on the ballot, along with Sanders and Clinton, but all received under 250 votes.

Vermin Supreme, maybe the most known long-shot candidate, who is known for wearing a boot on his head and advocating for mandatory tooth-brushing laws and a free pony for every American, received 225 votes, or less than 1 percent.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who dropped out after the Iowa Caucus, was also on the ballot and received 541 votes, which is under 1 percent.

Write-ins received 1,810, or just over 1 percent.

Campaigning will now move on to South Carolina and Nevada, the next two states to vote before Super Tuesday on March 1.