President Donald Trump smashed all historical records for an incumbent president in the New Hampshire Republican primary as Bernie Sanders narrowly wins the Democrat primary.
Political analysts use the turnout for an incumbent president to gauge the strength of support for their policies. Trump’s results were more than double that of President Barack Obama and George Bush. The president led with roughly 86 percent of the vote and had already amassed more votes in the New Hampshire primary than any incumbent president in history.
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As of Tuesday morning the president won over 123,000 votes among Republican and independent voters, more than double that of former President Barack Obama when he won among Democratic voters in New Hampshire’s 2012 primary, when he ran uncontested for reelection.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) declared victory over Pete Buttigieg. With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Sanders had 26.0 percent of the total votes. Pete Buttigieg, the former unpopular mayor of South Bend, Indiana, followed closely behind at 24.4 percent. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) was third with 19.8 percent.
Senator Elizabeth Warren came in a distant fourth wth less than 9.3 percent while political observers are saying former Vice President Joe Biden’s bid is essentially over now. Biden, who has seen his support plummet over the last few weeks, came in fifth with 8.4 percent.
“This victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump,” Sanders declared Tuesday night.
As results were totaling up and Sanders was projected to win, Buttigieg congratulated his rivals and called for unity within the Democratic Party.
“Thanks to you, a campaign that some said shouldn’t be here at all has shown that we are here to stay,” Buttigieg told a cheering crowd.
While a win for Sanders, his margin of victory was less than 2 percent. That’s a far cry from his over 30 percent margin of victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Observers say while he narrowly won in New Hampshire, it shows the difficulty of a socialist winning nationwide.
Polls this week showed President Trump’s approval rating at record highs – a miracle they say, coming on the heels of failed Democrat impeachment efforts.
–Dwight Widaman and wire services
