WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th February, 2020) US Senator Bernie Sanders narrowly defeated South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg in the Democratic Party's New Hampshire presidential Primary while former vice president Joe Biden failed to win a single delegate from the so-called granite state.
Major networks including CNN and NBC began projecting Sanders the winner at shortly after 11:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday (4:00 a.m. GMT Wednesday), about four hours after polls opened in the northeastern state, traditionally known for its independent-minded voters.
Sanders had secured about 26% of the vote followed closely by Buttigieg who finished with 24.4 percent, with 90 percent of precincts reporting, according to CNN citing AP official data.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar rounded out the top three with 19.8%. Senator Elizabeth Warren finished in fourth place with 9.3 percent while Biden garnered only 8.4 percent of the total vote.
Immediately after the projections, Sanders wasted no time in setting his crosshairs on US President Donald Trump as his primary adversary.
"Tonight New Hampshire sent a message that working people are ready for a political revolution in this country," Sanders told a rally in Manchester. "This is what it will take to defeat Donald Trump."
Just a few minutes earlier, Buttigieg congratulated the senator from Vermont for his "strong showing." The South Bend mayor added that he admired Sanders when he was in high school and respects him to this day.
Sanders is set to win eight pledged delegates, Buttigieg will capture 7 and Klobuchar 6.
Biden and Warren failed to break the 15 percent barrier required to secure any delegates.
Turnout was reported slightly up versus 2016 but below expectations.
Democratic voters in the state told an NBC news exit poll by a ratio of nearly two to one that they wanted to choose a candidate capable of beating Trump in November rather than one they most favored on the issues.
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Senator Michael Bennet announced that they are dropping out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race while former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick said he would consider his campaign's future tonight and make a decision on Wednesday. Media reported that Patrick is expected to leave the race.
Meanwhile, Trump ran away with the Republican New Hampshire primary contest by securing nearly 90 percent of the vote, according to Edison Research.
New Hampshire was the second contest in the presidential primary coming on the heels of last week's fiasco in Iowa, where Democrats could not figure out the winner for five days due to irregularities. Buttigieg, who won by less than one percent of the vote, wound up on top securing 13 delegates in Iowa to Sanders who captured 12.
At least 1,990, a majority of the estimated 3,979 pledged delegates, are required to win the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on the first ballot. If a candidate fails to do so, some 700 or more unpledged delegates, also known as superdelegates, can vote at the party convention for any candidate they choose, regardless of the outcome of any primary contests.
