Amy Klobuchar Out-Performs Expectations in New Hampshire

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks at her election nigh
AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty
Kyle Morris

Democrat presidential hopeful Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) had an eventful night in New Hampshire as many primary results turned out in her favor, further cementing her place in the race for her party’s nomination.

According to results that have poured in Tuesday night, Klobuchar only trailed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a feat unexpected by pundits. Following Klobuchar in the primary results were Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in fourth place and former Vice President Joe Biden in fifth place.

“Hello, America,” Klobuchar said as results were announced. “I’m Amy Klobuchar, and I will beat Donald Trump.”

Klobuchar went on to say her heart is full because she, her campaign, and her supporters “have beaten the odds every step of the way.”

“We have beaten the odds every step of the way,” Klobuchar said. “We have done it on the merits. We have done it with ideas. And we have done it with hard work. Because we are resilient, we are strong, and we are the people of this great nation.”

Klobuchar also thanked her “staff and unstoppable volunteers,” along with her husband, John Bessler, and her daughter, Abigail.

Klobuchar furthered her attack on President Donald Trump, saying he “blames anyone for anything that goes wrong.”

“The president might as well have a sign on his desk that says, ‘the buck stops anywhere but here,'” Klobuchar said. “He literally blames anyone for anything that goes wrong.”

The Minnesota senator also said President Trump’s “worst nightmare is that the people in the middle … have someone to vote for in November.”

Klobuchar furthermore touted her campaign’s excitement, saying they are excited to arrive in Nevada.

“We are on to Nevada because the best is yet to come,” the presidential hopeful said.

Klobuchar went on to commend Elizabeth Warren during her speech as results were revealed.

“People told me, just like they told her, that they didn’t think a woman could be elected,” Klobuchar told the small crowd of supporters gathered to hear results. “In my case, it was elected to the US Senate. No woman had ever done it before. But I came back, I defied expectations, and I won.”

Presidential hopeful Warren conceded that she would not outperform other candidates in New Hampshire and congratulated Klobuchar.

“Right now, it is clear that Sen. Sanders and Mayor Buttigieg had strong nights,” Warren said. “I also want to congratulate my friend and colleague Amy Klobuchar for showing just how wrong the pundits can be when they count a woman out.”

“We’ve been working really hard,” said Scott Merrick, a former state representative who is Klobuchar’s New Hampshire state director. “We focused on rural, urban and suburban areas, and we feel like we left no stone unturned.”

Several polls conducted in New Hampshire prior to the state’s primary vote this evening indicated that Klobuchar would be overpowered by other candidates in the race.

An Emerson College tracking poll, conducted from February 3–February 5, 2020, with a sample of 500 registered Democrat and independent voters, found respondents to favor both Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren over Klobuchar. Both Warren and Biden were tied at 12 percent, while Klobuchar sat at 11 percent in the Emerson poll.

Mother Jones, a left-wing magazine, released an article on Tuesday night that declared Klobuchar the “big winner” in New Hampshire.

“As we all know, the key to winning the media race is to do ‘better than expected,'” the article stated. “By that measure, Amy Klobuchar blew away the competition in New Hampshire tonight.”

“She went from 9 percent in the weekend polls to 12 percent in the final polls to 20 percent in the actual voting,” the article added. “That’s a helluva surge.”

As of 10:19 p.m. ET, with 76 percent of precincts in, Klobuchar was running eight points ahead of her Real Clear Politics average for the state of 11.7 percent.

Follow Kyle on Twitter @RealKyleMorris and Facebook.

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