And the First New Hampshire Results Are In
Promptly at midnight, three tiny communities in northern New Hampshire gathered and cast their votes in the first-in-the-nation primary. And, as one might expect, the results were anything but conclusive.
The first to report was Dixville Notch, which included four year-round employees of the Balsams Resort. The resort was closed for renovations, prompting fears the nearly 50-year tradition of midnight voting might end there, but five construction workers who are living at the resort agreed to participate, as well.
After the final votes were tallied, on the Republican side, John Kasich received three votes to Donald Trump’s two. Bernie Sanders swept all four Democrat votes, repeating what happened eight years ago when President Obama shut out Hillary Clinton.
The nearby town of Millsfield joined in the midnight voting as part of the centennial celebration of the Granite State’s first-in-the-nation primary. There, the voting results were much more widely distributed.
Ted Cruz led on the Republican side with nine votes, followed by Trump’s three. Kasich, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio each received one vote. On the Democrat side, Clinton received two votes to Sanders’ one.
Hart’s Location, which actually began the midnight voting tradition in New Hampshire in 1948, was the last location to report its results. Kasich and Trump again led the Republican side with five and four votes, respectively, while Christie picked up two more, and Bush, Rubio and Ben Carson each received one vote.
On the Democrat side, Sanders padded his lead with 17 votes to Clinton’s nine. Meanwhile, a little-known local candidate—a long-standing feature of the New Hampshire Primary—picked up two votes.
Polls across the state opened at 6 a.m. EST, and will remain open until 7 p.m. The first meaningful results should be available before 9 p.m. In the meantime, these are the official vote tallies:
Republicans: Cruz 9, Kasich 9, Trump 9, Christie 3, Bush 2, Rubio 2, Carson 1, Fiorina 1, Paul 1
Democrats: Sanders 17, Clinton 9, Others 2
