2008 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary

2008 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary

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22 pledged delegates to the
2008 Democratic National Convention
 
Candidate Hillary Clinton Barack Obama John Edwards
Home state New York Illinois North Carolina
Delegate count 9 9 4
Popular vote 112,404 104,815 48,699
Percentage 39.1% 36.5% 16.9%

Primary results by county
Clinton:      30–40%      40–50%
Obama:      30–40%      40–50%

The 2008 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary on January 8, 2008 was the first primary in the United States in 2008. Its purpose was to determine the number of delegates from New Hampshire that would represent a certain candidate at the National Convention. In a primary, members of a political party—in this case, the Democratic Party—will select the candidates to a subsequent election. Since 1920, New Hampshire has always hosted the first primaries in the entire nation. The Democratic Party's primary occurred on the same day as the Republican primary.[1]

Hillary Clinton was the winner of the popular vote in the primary, with Barack Obama trailing in second. Clinton and Obama received an equal number of delegates to the National Convention since the percentages of their votes were close. With this win, Clinton became the first female candidate to ever win a delegate-binding primary of a major political party's presidential nominating contest.[2]

After Obama became the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee on June 3, the New Hampshire Delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention unanimously cast its 30 formal votes for him, one of only three states to do so.

  1. ^ Gill, Kathy (2008). "How Does The New Hampshire Primary Work?". About.com: US Politics. About. Archived from the original on January 10, 2008. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
  2. ^ "Clearing it up: Who was the first woman to win?". dailykos.com. 2008. Retrieved September 11, 2016.