by Rose Brennan & Megan Dreher, Senior Writers
In a night that was thankfully shorter and less exciting than last week’s Iowa caucus, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was declared the victor of the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 11.
Polling with the highest popular vote at 25.6 percent, Sanders accrued nine pledged delegates from last week’s primaries. Right behind him is former mayor Pete Buttigieg, who also received nine delegates and 24.3 percent of the vote. Surprisingly, Sen. Amy Klobuchar was the only other presidential candidate who left New Hampshire with any pledged delegates. She polled at 19.7 percent of the vote and scooped up six delegates in the process.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former vice president Joe Biden had extremely disappointing performances in New Hampshire, and both left the state without a single delegate to their names on Tuesday night. But they still have at least a fighting chance in the race, with eight and six delegates from Iowa, respectively.
The remaining seven candidates in the race have yet to win a single delegate for the Democratic National Convention in July. With this immediate reality in mind, four candidates suspended their campaigns following last Tuesday’s primary.
The first to drop out was Maryland Rep. John Delaney, who ended his campaign just before the Iowa caucus. A centrist candidate, he failed to gain traction in his campaign, never polling above single digits.
““It’s clear to me on Monday, on caucus night, I will not have sufficient support to get to the 15 percent viability threshold … that is needed to get delegates out of Iowa,” Delaney said.
The second candidate to end his campaign was businessman Andrew Yang. His push to “Make America think harder” (MATH) and his plan for a universal basic income made him a somewhat well-known name in the field of candidates, though polling numbers failed to inspire confidence.
“You know I am the math guy, and it is clear tonight from the numbers that we are not going to win this race,” Yang said in an address to his supporters in New Hampshire.
The third candidate to fall was Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who dropped from the presidential race after a dismal showing in New Hampshire. Despite his grassroots campaigning efforts in which he held over 50 town hall events, Bennet finished with just 963 votes.
“I feel nothing but joy tonight as we conclude this campaign and this chapter. Tonight wasn’t our night. But New Hampshire, you may see me once again,” Bennet tweeted as he conceded from the campaign.
Finally, former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick ended his campaign on Wednesday following the New Hampshire primary. After making a late entry to the race back in November 2019, Patrick was only able to secure 0.4% of the vote and therefore felt there was not enough traction to continue.
“The vote in New Hampshire last night was not enough for us to create the practical wind at the campaign’s back to go on to the next round of voting. So I have decided to suspend the campaign, effective immediately. I am not suspending my commitment to help, and neither should you. We are facing the most consequential election of our lifetime,” said Patrick.
With Yang and Patrick no longer in the race, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is the only person of color still running for president. Only 8 candidates remain in contention for the Democratic nomination.
