Bernie Sanders narrowly beats Pete Buttigieg in New Hampshire primary, NBC News projects
Buttigieg and Sanders, who has overtaken Biden in national polling averages, came into the Granite State with a chance to build on a strong Iowa showing. Klobuchar looked to gain a measure of legitimacy for her campaign. Meanwhile, Warren and Biden aimed to improve on third and fourth-place finishes, respectively, in Iowa.
Biden, who emerged as an early front-runner as he made his case as the best Democrat to beat President Donald Trump, left New Hampshire on Tuesday night for South Carolina. All of his rivals for the nomination planned to hold gatherings with supporters in New Hampshire on primary night.
Biden has led polls of the state, driven by overwhelming support from black voters. Speaking to supporters in Columbia, South Carolina, he pointed out that nearly all of the African-American and Latino voters in the country have not cast ballots yet.
“It ain’t over, man. We’re just getting started,” he said. “Our votes count, too. … You can’t be the Democratic nominee and you can’t win the general election as a Democrat unless you have overwhelming support from black and brown voters.”
In New Hampshire, half of Democrats said they decided in the last few days, while the other half said they made up their minds earlier, according to NBC News exit polls.
The polls asked what mattered most to voters out of four issues: health care, climate change, income inequality and foreign policy. More than a third, 37% chose health care. About a quarter, or 24%, picked climate change, while 23% answered income inequality.
Another 10% chose foreign policy.
Crossfire among Democrats — particularly Sanders, Buttigieg, Biden and Klobuchar — marked the final days of the New Hampshire campaign. In his victory remarks, the Vermont senator took another swipe at his rivals, saying that “we’re taking on billionaires and we’re taking on the candidates funded by billionaires.”
He has targeted both Buttigieg and Biden for taking money from ultra wealthy donors. Sanders has also criticized former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for piling tens of millions of dollars into the race.
Even so, he urged his supporter to back whoever becomes the nominee against Trump.
“We are going to unite together and defeat the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country,” Sanders said.
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/11/new-hampshire-primary-2020-results-and-updates.html