Bernie Sanders won the most votes ever in a New Hampshire Presidential Primary

Besides winning the New Hampshire Democratic Primary by a wider than expected margin, Bernie Sanders just made history.

He won the most votes ever in a New Hampshire Primary. That’s not just for the Democratic Primary in New Hampshire. He won more votes than any candidate in any Republican New Hampshire Primary too.

Sanders got 31% more votes than the previous record-setter, John McCain in 2000. He also got more votes than Hillary Clinton in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012. It is worth pointing out that all those candidates didn’t become President.

Top New Hampshire Primary Votes

Here’s a look at the Primary winners, since 1952 when the New Hampshire primary gained its importance. (1)

New Hampshire Democratic Primary Winners

GOP New Hampshire Primary Winners

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_primary and the footnotes using the State of New Hampshire, Manual for the General Court, New Hampshire Secretary of State for the raw vote totals.

(1) According to Wikipedia, “New Hampshire has held a presidential primary since 1916, but it did not begin to assume its current importance until 1952 after the state simplified its ballot access laws in 1949 seeking to boost voter turnout.”