MANCHESTER, N.H., REUTERS, Feb 9, 2016 – Riding a wave of voter anger at traditional politicians, billionaire Donald Trump won New Hampshire’s Republican presidential nominating contest on Tuesday and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont won the Democratic primary.
Disenchanted with the economy and Washington politicians, voters in the first two U.S. primary voting races have responded enthusiastically to candidates for the Nov. 8 presidential election they view as outsiders.
The results, though decisive, did little to clear up confusion about who would emerge as the establishment contender to Trump on the Republican side, and the campaign of Sanders’ rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were defensive about her future prospects.
Some 73 percent of voters say they think the United States is on the wrong track, and these disaffected people make up a majority of the support bases for Trump and Sanders, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
A logjam of Republican candidates were in a dead heat for third place. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who won the Iowa caucus last week, had 12 percent; former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the son and brother of former presidents, had 11 percent, and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida had 10 percent.