2020 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary
The 2020 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary took place on February 11, 2020, as the second nominating contest in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, following the Iowa caucuses the week before. The New Hampshire primary was a semi-closed primary, meaning that only Democrats and independents were allowed to vote in this primary. New Hampshire sent 33 delegates to the national convention, of which 24 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary, and the other 9 were unpledged delegates preselected independently of the primary results.[1]
Senator Bernie Sanders won the primary with 25.6% of the vote, edging out former mayor Pete Buttigieg after his narrow win in Iowa, who came in second place with 24.3% of the vote.[2] Both had already led the results in Iowa. This was a decline in support for Sanders, who in 2016 had won New Hampshire with 60.14% to Hillary Clinton's 37.68%.[3] Both Sanders and Buttigieg received nine delegates, while Senator Amy Klobuchar unexpectedly finished in third place and received six delegates; her third-place finish was described as "Klomentum" or "Klobucharge" by several observers, but she was not able to make use of this in the following primaries. Senator Elizabeth Warren and former vice president Joe Biden, who had been the leading contenders nationally, both underperformed expectations, coming in fourth and fifth, respectively, and received no delegates. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang, former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Colorado Senator Michael Bennet finished eighth, tenth and eleventh respectively and all suspended their presidential campaigns after their poor results.
Voter turnout set a new record for New Hampshire primaries, with 298,377 ballots being cast,[2] breaking the previous record of 287,527 set in the 2008 primary.[4] This was the third consecutive contested Democratic primary in which New Hampshire voted for the candidate that did not receive the Democratic nomination. Despite underperforming quite drastically in this primary, Biden later went on to win the nomination and defeat incumbent president Donald Trump in the general election, including a comfortable general election victory in New Hampshire.
Forums and other events[edit]
Prospective candidates began making visits to New Hampshire in 2017.[8] Among the more notable events of the campaign was the 2019 state convention, at which 19 of the candidates give speeches.[9] The eighth Democratic primary debate took place in the state on February 7, 2020.[10] A Lesser-Known Candidates Forum was also held, featuring candidates on the New Hampshire ballot but who were not considered major candidates.[11]
Analysis[edit]
Bernie Sanders narrowly won the New Hampshire primary with 25.6% of the vote, the lowest vote share a winner of this primary has ever received,[22] with Pete Buttigieg finishing in second.[2] By contrast, Amy Klobuchar finished in an unexpectedly strong third place. Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively, both of which were considered disappointing finishes.[23] Geographically, Sanders won the largest cities in New Hampshire, including Manchester, Nashua, and Concord. Buttigieg kept the race close by performing strongly in the southeastern part of the state,[23] including in the suburbs of Boston and in the nearby, more rural Lakes Region.[24]
Exit polls showed that Sanders benefited from his strong performance among young voters as he won about half of the under-30 vote, with this group making up about 14% of the electorate. Among those under the age of 45, he won 42% of the vote; this larger group made up about a third of the electorate. Buttigieg received only 21% of the vote among those under the age of 45 but outperformed Sanders 26–17 among voters 45 and older. Both Sanders and Buttigieg lost the 45-and-older vote to Klobuchar, who received 27% of the vote in this group. Similarly, Klobuchar convincingly won among voters aged 65 and older, receiving 32% of their votes, as compared to only 14% for Sanders and 12% for Biden. Ideologically, about 60% of voters identified as either "very liberal" or "somewhat liberal", and Sanders won this group with about 33% of the vote. By contrast, among the remaining 40% of voters who identified as "moderate" or "conservative", Buttigieg and Klobuchar approximately tied with 27 and 26% of the vote, respectively.[25]
Aftermath[edit]
Following poor showings in the New Hampshire primary, Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado,[26] entrepreneur Andrew Yang[27] and former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick[28] withdrew from the race. With the end of these campaigns, the Democratic field numbered fewer than ten candidates for the first time since early 2019.