Yesterday, voters in the Granite State cast their ballots, with a significant tilt in favor of the outsiders. Success in establishment quarters was narrow in yesterday’s results. In New Hampshire at least, passion and anger seem to define the political season.
In the GOP field, Donald Trump emerged triumphant with about 35% of the vote. John Kasich, the Ohio Governor, locked in at a slightly distant second place, forging a victory for more establishment oriented Conservatism. However, Marco Rubio, the Florida Senator who impressed many with his third place achievement in Iowa, ultimately ended up in fifth place behind the former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Governor Bush was locked into a tight race with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, with the latter ultimately securing third place with an extremely thin margin between the two.
On the Democrats’ side, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont won the Granite State with approximately 60% of the vote.
Thus, the New Hampshire results have revealed a desire for political upheaval, as the victors are a businessman with no previous political experience and a self-styled Democratic Socialist who preaches the necessity of a “political revolution”. The dying that occurred in these primaries was, if minimally, in establishment politics. However, the establishment lane did manage a minor victory with Governor Kasich’s second place finish. Will the establishment manage a ubiquitous breakthrough in a presidential race that has seen the rise of figures like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders?
Source
(Information obtained from CNN coverage of New Hampshire Primaries, 2016)
