New Hampshire Primary: John Kasich Takes Second Place

By Tony Schinella

CONCORD, NH - Voters in New Hampshire gave a fiery rebuke of the establishment of both major political parties by delivering decisive wins to renegade candidates in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump and self-proclaimed democratic socialist U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, easily bested their opponents by solid margins in what is expected to be one of the largest turnouts in state history.

The networks projected wins for both Trump and Sanders at 8:01 p.m., a historic first, a minute after polls closed in late voting cities and towns, based on dynamic numbers being reported in Exit Polls and tabulations made in higher population communities – like the capital city, Concord – that ended its voting in 7 p.m.

And Ohio Gov. John Kasich took second place, according to projections from multiple national news outlets, a strong finish after consistently toiling near the bottom of national polls.

On the Republican side, Trump held an 18-plus percent lead with Kasich, former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-FL, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-FL, and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, battling it out for second and third place.

For Democrats, Sanders had an 18-plus percent lead against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The support for both Sanders and Trump was solid and consistent in many of the communities that tend to support establishment candidates, including the southern tier of the state and the Seacoast. Both candidates not only took on their party’s establishment candidates but also struck a chord with voters on economic issues.

Trump hammered away at bad trade deals and special interests buying influence in Washington, DC, while Sanders told voters that he would take on Wall Street’s rigged system and tax millionaires to pay for jobs programs, healthcare, and infrastructure investments.

Voters from both political parties filling out Exit Polls in New Hampshire told samplers gathering information that they were concerned about the economy and the nation’s place in the world.

Sixty percent of Republican voters said they were worried about terrorism while three-quarters of voters said they were worried about the economy, according to CNN. A whopping 90 percent said they were angry about the state of the federal government. Half said that they were angry with the Republican Party.

Three-quarters of the Democrats sampled said they were worried about the economy and 40 percent said they thought life for the next generation would be worse than life today. Not until those Republican angry at the state of the federal government, 90 percent said the nation’s economy favored the wealthy.

• READ MORE: Live 2016 New Hampshire Primary: Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Projected Winners