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Who Lost The New Hampshire Primary? These Democratic & Republican Candidates Will Need To Rethink Their Strategies

by Keiko Zoll

The votes for the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary are in — and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and business mogul Donald Trump have much to celebrate with their big wins on Tuesday night. But as the dust from the long polling station lines settle, there were big losses in New Hampshire. Who lost the New Hampshire primary? For the Democrats, the answer is pretty straightforward: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wasn't able to overtake her opponent. In the wide Republican field of candidates, the answer is a little more complicated given how votes are counted in the New Hampshire primary.

Here are the voting percentages for each of the seven other major Republican candidates, with 12 percent of precincts reporting at press time: Ohio Gov. John Kasich — 16.3 percent; Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — 11.8 percent; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — 11.1 percent; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio — 10.1 percent; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — 7.9 percent; former CEO Carly Fiorina — 4.4 percent; and neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson — 2.2 percent. With proportional delegation in New Hampshire, that means Clinton will still receive seven delegates toward the Democratic nomination while some of the remaining GOP candidates could also walk away with New Hampshire Republican delegates on Tuesday.

An Unsurprising Loss For Clinton

With fluctuating polling numbers even in the hours leading up to Tuesday's primary between Clinton and Sanders — some were calling it for Clinton while others were equally ready to call it for Sanders — Clinton's loss isn't particularly surprising to her campaign. After Clinton's win in the Iowa caucuses, Sanders' win has proven that he is in fact, a legitimate candidate and could make the Democratic race that much tougher for his establishment opponent.

What's Next For The Losing GOP Candidates?

With Trump's surprising win on Tuesday, the Republican field continues to whittle itself down. After substantial losses in the Iowa caucuses, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee each suspended their campaigns. With such low polling results after Tuesday's primary in New Hampshire, will Carson, Fiorina, and Christie follow suit? We'll have to wait and see if they can survive another round of primaries or call it quits.

With record-breaking turnout for Tuesday's first-in-the-nation primary, the race to the White House is officially on. For Sanders and Trump, they can take the momentum of their New Hampshire victories to move forward on the campaign trail. For Bush, Cruz, and Rubio, it's going to be a long 11 days to the next major primary — South Carolina on Feb. 20 — as they try to recover from Tuesday's loss.