Voters go to the polls in New Hampshire primary

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U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in Concord, N.H.

(Jewell SamadJ / AFP/Getty Images)

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a primary night rally in Manchester, N.H.

(David Goldman / Associated Press)

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Ohio Gov. and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich, joined by his wife, Karen, speaks to supporters during a primary election watch party in Concord, N.H., after finishing second to Donald Trump.

(Dominick Reuter / AFP/Getty Images)

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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks as former President Clinton applauds at her New Hampshire primary campaign rally in Hooksett.

(Elise Amendola / Associated Press)

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Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders onstage during a primary night rally in Concord, N.H.

(Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump visits a polling station in Manchester, N.H.

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Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz leaves a campaign stop at the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester.

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Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio speaks with Stephanie Tespas outside Gilbert Hood Middle School in Derry.

(Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press)

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Supporters of Bernie Sanders cheer at a rally in Concord as they watch primary results on TV.

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Cesare Del Vaglio, a campaign volunteer for Donald Trump, makes phone calls to New Hampshire voters at Trump’s campaign office in Manchester.

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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders walks through downtown Concord, N.H.

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump visits a polling station as voters cast their primary day ballots in Manchester.

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Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush thanks his supporters outside the polling place at Webster School in Manchester.

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Voters in Nashua, N.H., walk to their polling place to cast their ballots in Tuesday’s primary.

(David Goldman / Associated Press)

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A Bernie Sanders supporter arrives with campaign signs outside the town hall in Canterbury, N.H.

(Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)

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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets voters carrying Donald Trump signs outside a polling station in Nashua, N.H., on Tuesday.

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Voters wait in line at a fire station in Loudon, N.H.

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Sen. Marco Rubio boards his campaign bus after stopping to thank supporters outside a polling place in Manchester, N.H., on Feb. 9.

(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

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Supporters and detractors of Sen. Marco Rubio, including one in costume to resemble a robot, meet in the snow in Manchester, N.H.

(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

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Supporters of various presidential candidates hold signs outside a polling place at the Webster School in Manchester, N.H. Tuesday is the 100th anniversary of the New Hampshire primariy, the “first in the nation’ test for presidential candidates from both parties.

(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

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A man attempts to take a selfie with Republican candidate Gov. Chris Christie as he greets supporters outside the Webster School polling place in Manchester, N.H.

(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

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An election worker hands out stickers to voters afer they cast their ballots in Belmont, N.H.

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Wayne Peirce shovels snow off the sidewalk at a polling station in preparation for opening in Laconia, N.H.

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A voter leaves Canterbury Town Hall in Canterbury, N.H., after casting her ballot in Tuesday’s presidential primary.

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A voter in Nashua, N.H., leaves a polling site after casting his ballot at dawn.

(David Goldman / Associated Press)

By Michael A. Memoli

Feb. 9, 2016 4:43 AM PT

Reporting from Manchester, N.H. —

When Donald Trump came to New Hampshire two years ago and declared a presidential run was “absolutely in the cards,” hardly anyone took him, or the idea, seriously. When Sen. Bernie Sanders announced he would seek the Democratic nomination last April, his candidacy was seen as more a crusade for his issues than a credible challenge to Hillary Clinton.

But now as voters head to the polls here, they appear set to hand both men unlikely victories in the nation’s first presidential primary, an outcome reflecting the appeal of political outsiders over well-financed establishment favorites.

LIVE from New Hampshire: Primary day updates

New Hampshire’s secretary of state is predicting a record turnout in this rare year in which both major parties feature competitive nomination contests. Bill Gardner, the state’s top election official for four decades, projected 550,000 votes to be cast across the more than 200 cities and towns in the year New Hampshire celebrates the 100th anniversary of its presidential primary.

That would surpass the nearly 530,000 cast in 2008.

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That year Hillary Clinton scored an upset, come-from-behind victory over then-Sen. Barack Obama to keep her candidacy alive through the end of the primaries in June. She hopes for the same this year as polls show her trailing Sanders by double digits here after narrowly defeating Sanders in the Iowa caucuses last week.

“We’re going to keep working literally until the last vote is cast and counted, and we’re going to go from there,” Clinton said during an early-morning stop at a polling place in Manchester.

On the Republican side, the fight has mainly been over finishing second as Trump has maintained his own significant advantage. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida sought to carry his momentum here after a strong third-place finish in Iowa but has been the target of attacks all week by his fellow Republicans, particularly New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are looking, like Christie, to keep their candidacies afloat with a strong performance here.

Kasich’s New Hampshire-centric strategy paid dividends at least in Dixville Notch, the remote voting location in the White Mountains that opens and closes its polls at midnight. He beat Trump 3 to 2, while Sanders swept all four votes cast in the Democratic race there.

Follow @mikememoli for more campaign 2016 news.

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