Minutes after polls closed Tuesday, virtually all major media organizations declared Sanders and Trump the winners. In another closely watched battle, Ohio Governor John Kasich was projected to finish second in the Republican race behind Trump.

　　The results were in line with recent opinion polls, which showed Sanders, a Vermont senator, and Trump, a New York real estate mogul and reality TV star, with comfortable, double-digit leads over their rivals in the Northeastern state.

　　Trump, Sanders Winners in New Hampshire Primary Contests, Media Say

　　“We are going to make America great again,” a triumphant Trump told supporters during a victory speech. “But we’re going to do it the old fashioned way.”

　　“We are going to start winning again, and we are going to win so much, you are going to be so happy,” Trump added.

　　The quick victory for Sanders stood in stark contrast to last week’s first nominating contest in Iowa, which ended in a virtual tie between him and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

　　Smiling broadly and laughing, Sanders stayed on message, focusing on economic inequality in his victory speech to cheering supporters.

　　“Together we have sent a message that will echo from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine to California. And that is that the government of our great country belongs to all the people and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors and their Super PACs [independent campaign committees],” Sanders said.

　　Clinton, appearing alongside her husband, former President Bill Clinton, appeared upbeat and confident as she conceded defeat.

　　“Here’s what we’re going to do: We take this campaign to the entire country, we fight for every vote in every state, we are going to fight for real solutions that make a real difference in people’s lives,” she said.

　　The margins of victory for Sanders and Trump remained unclear.

　　With 38 percent of of the votes counted, Sanders had 59 percent compared with 40 percent for Clinton.

　　On the Republican side, Trump had 34 percent of the vote, with more than one-third of precincts reporting.

　　Kasich, who had hinted he might drop out with a poor New Hampshire result, had 16 percent. Bunched up close behind him were former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

　　Trump must win the state by at least 10 percentage points to secure his front-runner status, according to prominent conservative pollster Frank Luntz.

　　“When you consider all the negative comments that are made about him, all the attacks — if he can survive it, and beat all these guys by 10 points or more, then he’s clearly the front-runner,” Luntz told VOA.

　　Several lesser-polling Republican candidates staked their entire campaigns on doing well in the Granite State. Among those who had the most to lose by turning in poor performances were Bush, Kasich and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

　　Voters braved snowy conditions and waited in long lines at polling stations across the state, turning out in what were expected to be record numbers.

　　"I voted for Donald Trump because the economy is so bad and I think he could probably be the best man to help," said Roberta Latour from Merrimack.

　　Oscar Villacis is a Clinton supporter from Nashua. "My heart was telling me Bernie Sanders, but my mind was telling me Hillary Clinton," he said.