2008 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary explained

Election Name:2008 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary
Country:New Hampshire
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2004 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary
Previous Year:2004
Next Election:2012 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary
Next Year:2012
Candidate1:John McCain
Colour1:ce5c17
Home State1:Arizona
Delegate Count1:7
Popular Vote1:88,713
Percentage1:37.00%
Candidate2:Mitt Romney
Colour2:85bb65
Home State2:Massachusetts
Delegate Count2:4
Popular Vote2:75,675
Percentage2:31.56%
Candidate3:Mike Huckabee
Colour3:990000
Home State3:Arkansas
Delegate Count3:1
Popular Vote3:26,916
Percentage3:11.22%
Candidate4:Rudy Giuliani
Colour4:003884
Home State4:New York
Delegate Count4:0
Popular Vote4:20,344
Percentage4:8.48%
Candidate5:Ron Paul
Colour5:fed105
Home State5:Texas
Delegate Count5:0
Popular Vote5:18,346
Percentage5:7.65%
Votes For Election:12 pledged delegates to the Republican National Convention
Outgoing Members:WY
Elected Members:MI
Map: style="text-align:left; margin:auto; width:400px;"

The 2008 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary took place on January 8, 2008, with 12 national delegates being allocated proportionally to the popular vote.[1]

Senator from Arizona John McCain won the contest with 37% of the vote and 7 pledged delegates. McCain's victory was described by The New York Times as a "Lazarus-like win" that "revived his presidential bid" following a disappointing showing in the 2008 Iowa caucuses.[2]

Background and campaign

During the 2000 Republican contest held eight years prior, Senator John McCain defeated frontrunner and eventual nominee George W. Bush in the New Hampshire primary in an upset victory.[3]

In the 2008 primary, Mitt Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, invested significant campaign resources in the state. Romney's defeat in the New Hampshire primary to McCain was considered a significant blow for his campaign.[4]

Polling

In the days leading up to the primary, John McCain appeared to gain a slight lead over Mitt Romney. An average of polling found McCain with 31.8%, Romney, 28.2%, Huckabee with 12.2%, Giuliani with 9.3%, Paul with 8.2%, and Thompson with 2.2%.[5]

Results

The official return was certified by the New Hampshire Secretary of State on 9 January.[6] According to New Hampshire law, delegates are allocated proportionally with a minimum 10% threshold required to receive delegates. The balance of delegates that are not assigned are then allocated to the winner.

Independent voters made up 44 percent of the state electorate and could choose to vote in either this primary or the Democratic contest held on the same day, but voters could not vote in both.[7]

CandidateVotesPercentageDelegates
John McCain 88,571 37.71% 7
75,546 32.17% 4
26,859 11.44% 1
20,439 8.7% 0
18,308 7.8% 0
2,890 1.23% 0
1,217 0.52% 0
203 0.09% 0
Stephen Marchuk 123 0.05% 0
Tom Tancredo80 0.03% 0
53 0.02% 0
Cornelius Edward O'Connor 45 0.02% 0
Albert Howard 44 0.02% 0
Vern Wuensche 44 0.02% 0
41 0.02% 0
39 0.02% 0
Daniel Gilbert 33 0.01% 0
James Creighton Mitchell Jr. 30 0.01% 0
Jack Shepard 27 0.01% 0
Mark Klein 19 0.01% 0
H. Neal Fendig Jr. 13 0% 0
Scattered 227 0.1% 0
Total 234,851 100% 12
* Candidate had already dropped out of the race prior to primary.

Recount

Most New Hampshire voters cast their votes on vulnerable Diebold optical-scan systems, leading election-reform activists to immediately begin examining the results from New Hampshire, claiming later to find evidence suggesting fraud.[8]

Republican presidential nominee candidate Albert Howard joined forces with Ron Paul supporters bankrolling a full recount of the Republican primary.[9] The Republican recount began on Wednesday January 16.[10]

The story initially was reported only online, but was later acknowledged by mainstream news outlets. Most observers have concluded that demographic trends influence both a community's means of counting ballots, and which candidates the community is likely to support.[11]

On January 10, 2008, presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich requested and paid for a recount to make sure that all of the votes in the Democratic primary were counted - Republican candidate Albert Howard also requested a recount in the Republican primary.[12]

The recount began on January 16, 2008 after New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner received $27,000 from Kucinich. The first ballots to be counted came from Manchester. The campaigns and fair elections groups had the right to see and approve every ballot. In the GOP recount the votes for all candidates were exactly the same except for Mitt Romney who received 1 extra vote. With $55,600, Albert Howard is the first person in U.S. history to receive a statewide New Hampshire Primary Recount.[13]

The Deputy Secretary of State, David Scanlan, estimated that the Republican recount cost $57,600 and the Democratic recount, with more votes cast, cost $67,600.[14]

According to Howard's campaign Web site, some of his primary objectives include banning electronic voting. Quin Monson, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at BYU, commented: "There are people that do not trust the technology. [The] request for the recount is likely a response to that crowd."[15]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Election Guide 2008 - Presidential Election - Politics. The New York Times .
  2. News: Healy . Patrick . Cooper . Michael . 2008-01-08 . Clinton Stuns Obama; McCain Wins . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-03-09 . 0362-4331.
  3. Web site: Balz . Dan . February 2, 2000 . McCain Stuns Bush in N.H. Primary . March 8, 2023 . Washington Post.
  4. News: Healy . Patrick . Cooper . Michael . 2008-01-08 . Clinton Stuns Obama; McCain Wins . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-03-09 . 0362-4331.
  5. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/nh/new_hampshire_republican_primary-193.html RealClearPolitics – Election 2008 – New Hampshire Republican Primary
  6. Web site: Presidential Primary Election January 8 . 2008-01-11 . New Hampshire Secretary of State . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080706124227/http://www.sos.nh.gov/presprim2008/rpressum.htm . 2008-07-06 .
  7. Web site: 6 January 2008 . Tuesday could be independents' day in N.H. .
  8. Web site: Was the New Hampshire vote stolen?. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080113131716/http://machinist.salon.com/feature/2008/01/11/new_hampshire_vote/. 2008-01-13.
  9. Web site: Concord Monitor - Primary votes to be recounted. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080115085628/http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20080112%2FFRONTPAGE%2F801120402%2F1043%2FNEWS01. 2008-01-15.
  10. New Hampshire to Recount Ballots in Light of Controversy. Wired. Zetter. Kim.
  11. News: Experts skeptical of N.H. ballot-count conspiracy theory . . Beverley Wang . . 2008-03-14 . 2008-01-11.
  12. News: Kucinich claim spurs N.H. recount. Boston Herald. AP. 2008-03-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20080311134002/http://news.bostonherald.com/news/2008/view.bg?articleid=1066072. 2008-03-11. dead.
  13. News: Recounting and recalling the N.H. presidential primary . Kevin Landrigan . 2008-01-27 . 2008-03-14 . April 23, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080423175248/http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080127/NEWS08/332865883/-1/news . dead .
  14. News: Recounts aren't cheap . . Tom Fahey . 2008-01-15 . 2008-03-14 . 2011-05-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110522193005/http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=ac275a70-9424-467c-8e4d-5517a7000163 . dead .
  15. News: New Hampshire Recount Garners Little Attention . BYU Newsnet . Erica Teichert . 2008-01-16 . 2008-03-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080220091738/http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/66978 . 2008-02-20 . dead .