Amid turmoil in the Iowa caucuses, Democrats quickly shifted their attention to the next key presidential battleground in New Hampshire.
The top candidates arrived in the Granite State and hit the ground running. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Amy Klobuchar all campaigned around the state during the day after jetting in from Iowa without knowing who won.
"Now New Hampshire has a chance to send a message to the whole country," Buttigieg said, hours before before the release of Iowa caucus results showing him in the lead with 62% of precincts reporting.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is just behind won New Hampshire's primary in 2016 and is leading recent polls of likely Granite State voters, got a late start compared to other candidates, holding a rally Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m.
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After courting New Hampshire voters for months, the candidates will be sprinting across the state to make their final pitches ahead of next week's first-in-the-nation primary election, set for Tuesday, Feb. 11. (Iowa's contest is a caucus.)
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, businessman Andrew Yang and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard also campaigned in the state Tuesday.
The candidates have their work cut out for them. Some candidates' speeches were interrupted by protesters or heckling, and many voters in attendance remained undecided on who they would vote for.
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New Hampshire is poised to take on a more important role following Iowa's delayed, chaotic results, after largely taking a back seat to Iowa through January.
“New Hampshire becomes, I think, more important because we don't know what Iowa's going to come out with,” said Bill Shaheen, a Democratic National Committeeman from the state who is backing Biden.
The primary is far simpler than a caucus; the election is also run by state and local governments, not the political parties, like Iowa. A primary works like a general election, with people going into the voting booth and selecting one candidate. New Hampshire uses paper ballots, with some places counting them electronically.
“Even if those systems failed, New Hampshire would still have an election and would report results at the end of the night," Deputy Secretary of State Dave Scanlan said Tuesday morning.
None of the top-tier candidates have characterized winning the state as a must, though the muddled results of Iowa may change that. While there is a perception that because Sanders hails from neighboring Vermont, and Warren from neighboring Massachusetts, they need to do well in New Hampshire, key surrogates have softened the idea that victory is necessary.
On Tuesday, Warren characterized the Iowa results as a "tight three-way race" — she was in 3rd with the partial results in — noted that her organization is fanned out across the country in preparation for a long campaign.
"It is good to be in New Hampshire," Warren said at one of her events. "Our organizers are now leaving Iowa and going around to other places in the country where we are. We are in 31 states, we have more than 1,000 people on the ground. This is an organization that is built for the long haul."
More on the New Hampshire Primary
New Hampshire's First-in-the-Nation presidential primary is on Feb. 11. Take a look at news and information to help you make your choice.
