February 11, 2016

Primary Results: Republicans

With few exceptions, the results essentially mirrored the polls. Trump has consistently led the New Hampshire polls since July. Recent polls indicating a surge for Ohio Governor John Kasich were spot on. Here’s my analysis…

Here are there results of the New Hampshire primary:

Donald Trump 35%
John Kasich 16%
Ted Cruz 12%
Jeb Bush 11%
Marco Rubio 10.5%
Chris Christie 8%
Carly Fiorina 4%
Ben Carson 2%

With few exceptions, the results essentially mirrored the polls. Trump has consistently led the New Hampshire polls since July. Recent polls indicating a surge for Ohio Governor John Kasich were spot on. Here’s my analysis:

  • Since 1976 no one has won the GOP nomination without winning Iowa or New Hampshire. If that pattern holds, then either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz will be the nominee.

  • GOP primary turnout set a record, just like in Iowa. Clearly, Republicans are excited about the 2016 elections.

  • According to one analysis, the Bush campaign and its associated Super PACs spent more than $36 million in New Hampshire, nearly $1,200 per vote. Ted Cruz got the best bang for the buck, spending just $18 per vote.

  • Exit poll results should put to rest the left-wing narrative that Trump supporters are ignorant, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals. Trump carried college-educated voters and he even won among those with post-graduate degrees.

  • Here’s something that should worry Republican elites: 64% of GOP primary voters said they supported a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. When Trump suggested a temporary ban after the San Bernardino attacks, some GOP candidates and leaders rushed to condemn him. Some even said, as Obama did, “That’s not who we are.”

  • Nearly half of Republican primary voters (47%) said they felt betrayed by Republican politicians.

The disconnect of the political class and its failure to confront Barack Obama in any meaningful way may explain Trump’s success. Republican voters appear to be looking beyond the Republican Party for an answer.

  • Ted Cruz finished a respectable third, given that the New Hampshire electorate is not nearly as conservative as Iowa. (In fact, a recent Gallup study finds New Hampshire is America’s least religious state.) Cruz has the resources to run a national campaign and is well-positioned to compete in upcoming multi-state primaries.

  • John Kasich’s strong showing scrambles the race for the “establishment lane.” Chris Christie has returned to New Jersey and is reportedly going to drop out. And, having finished ahead of Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush certainly won’t drop out now.

Speaking of Marco Rubio, he took full responsibility for his fifth place showing. He told supporters, “Our disappointment tonight is not on you. It’s on me. It’s on me. I did not do well on Saturday night, so listen to this: That will never happen again.” That is smart politics and it says a lot about him.

Primary Results: Democrats

[Tuesday] night Bernie Sanders made history as the first American Jew to win a presidential primary.

In 1992, Bill Clinton lost New Hampshire to a neighboring state’s senator. He spun his second place showing as a victory, declaring himself “The Comeback Kid.” There was none of the Clinton magic for Hillary [Tuesday] night. Here are some quick observations:

  • Sanders’ victory was resounding — 60% to 38%.

  • Sanders won every demographic except those over 65 and those making more than $200,000 a year.

  • Women, evidently willing to risk hell, voted for Sanders 55% to 44%. You may recall that former Secretary of State Madeline Albright suggested a few days ago that there was a “special place in hell” for women who didn’t vote for Mrs. Clinton.

  • Millennials voted for Sanders by incredible margins — in excess of 80%.

  • Asked to name their top candidate quality, a plurality (34%) said “honesty.” Of the voters who said honesty was most important to them, they broke 91% to 5% for Sanders.

Some pundits are attempting to spin Clinton’s loss by dismissing New Hampshire as “Sanders’ backyard.” But that doesn’t hold up. Let’s back up a year and look at the polls then.

Four polls were conducted last February, and Hillary Clinton enjoyed an average lead of 40 points. Sanders was registering just 10% against the “inevitable” nominee, Hillary Clinton.

When Mrs. Clinton ran before in 2008, she won the New Hampshire primary with 39% of the vote and just over 112,000 votes. Now, after four years as Obama’s secretary of state, she got 38% and just under 91,000 votes.

Looking Ahead



Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will face each other in a debate [tonight]. The next battle for the Democrat nomination will take place in Nevada on February 20th.



The next Republican debate is February 13th, followed by the South Carolina primary on February 20th.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.