MANCHESTER, the United States, Feb.11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders is projected to win the New Hampshire Democratic primary, several U.S. media outlets reported Tuesday night.

With 95 percent of precincts reporting, Sanders is less than 2 percentage points ahead of Indiana ex-mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is followed by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, according to a real-time tally by CNN.

According to the primary rules of the Democratic Party, New Hampshire's 24 pledged delegates will be allocated to the three contenders proportionally based on the results of the primary.

A number of other Democrats, including U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, are not expected to earn any delegates from New Hampshire, as none of them are projected to meet a 15-percent threshold to be considered viable.

Sanders declared victory in a New Hampshire rally after the projections were announced, while Buttigieg, in his rally, congratulated the Vermont senator on the result.

Tuesday's Democratic primary in New Hampshire came over a week after the party's caucuses in Iowa, in which Buttigieg and Sanders were also neck-and-neck.

Sitting President Donald Trump is projected to win the Granite State's Republican primary, also held on Tuesday, as he was facing no major challenges in the party. In a late night tweet, he touted the victory and claimed that "there is nothing too fabulous" on the Democratic side.

In 2016, Trump won the New Hampshire's GOP primary, although he lost the state to his then Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, in that November by a 0.4-percent margin.

Two Democratic candidates, tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, respectively, announced an end to their campaigns, shortly after polls were closed in New Hampshire on Tuesday evening.

After their exits, there are still nine contending for the Democratic Party's nomination to challenge Trump. Deval Patrick, former governor of Massachusetts, said Tuesday that he will soon "make some decisions" on the future of his Democratic presidential campaign.

Biden, who is leading in national polls amid lackluster performances in both Iowa and New Hampshire, is turning to Nevada and South Carolina, the next two states in the Democratic nominating process.

"We just heard from the first two of 50 states. Two of them. Not all the nation, not half the nation, not a quarter of the nation, not 10 percent -- two. Two," Biden told supporters in South Carolina. "Where I come from that's the opening bell, not the closing bell." Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)