What Happens To The Democratic Race After New Hampshire?

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks to supporters at a primary night election rally in Manchester, N.H., Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020.

Arjun Singh is a producer for Boston Public Radio. A California native, Arjun moved to Boston to study international relations at Boston University. Prior to working at WGBH, Arjun worked at a tech company and for a political campaign.

February 12, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

In the 2020 New Hampshire primary, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ended the night as the victor. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Sanders won 25.7 percent of the vote, but was closely followed by former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg , who garnered 24.4 percent of the vote and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar at 19.8 percent.

Steve Kerrigan, a former CEO of the Democratic National Convention said that he expected Sanders or Sen. Elizabeth Warren to win given that they are from neighboring states, but the narrow victory for Sanders over Buttigieg is a sign of vitality for the Buttigieg campaign.

“It was expected [Sanders] would win,” Kerrigan said during an interview with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday. “I think the larger story is the smaller of the margin which goes to Pete’s strength and Amy’s strength.”

Jennifer Nassour the former chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party said that if the Democrats are hoping to beat President Donald Trump in 2020 they should not nominate Sanders. Nassour said she believes Sanders' identification as a democratic socialist will scare off moderate voters.

“Bernie Sanders actually calls himself a [democratic socialist],” Nassour said. “If it is Bernie, you are going to lose all of those people in the middle.”

Nassour is the former Chairman of the MassGOP and founder- of Conservative Women For A Better Future. Kerrigan is the CEO of the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, former CEO of DNC.