President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump won their respective parties’ New Hampshire primaries

Since 1975, New Hampshire law has required that it host the first presidential primary of the election season

That gives the state outsized influence over the rest of the primary cycle by weeding out presidential candidates who fail to distinguish themselves there

Note: Although the first event of the Republican primary season is technically in Iowa, that is a caucus, a different type of election style, and therefore is not considered a typical “primary”

Since 2022, though, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which supports President Biden, has publicly feuded with New Hampshire politicians over its first-in-the-nation status

The conflict stemmed from the DNC’s desire to move South Carolina’s primary ahead of New Hampshire’s

The DNC said the move to South Carolina would give minority voters more say over the election process. Biden won South Carolina’s 2020 primary, while coming in fifth in New Hampshire’s

New Hampshire rejected the move, arguing its laws require it to host the nation’s first primary

Because of that dispute, the DNC will not award New Hampshire any delegates at the party’s national convention, meaning the state’s primary will have no sway over the future nominee

In addition, Biden’s name did not appear on the ballot, although those of his competitors – including Representative Dean Phillips (D-MN) and self-help author Marianne Williamson – did

Some of Biden’s supporters launched a campaign to urge voters to write in Biden’s name, and despite his lack of inclusion on the ballot, polls suggested he enjoyed a 20+ point lead

On the Republican side of things, Donald Trump faced off against Nikki Haley

Polls gave Trump a 17+ point edge over Haley, although some analysts suggested Haley could pull out a surprise win in the more liberal state

New Hampshire’s Republican governor endorsed Haley ahead of the primary

With roughly half of the vote in, President Biden was declared the winner of the Democratic primary by what is estimated to be a 40+ point differential

Phillips came in second place with 20.5% of the vote and Williamson in third with 4.4%

Meanwhile, Trump was declared the winner of the Republican primary by what is currently a 7.5-point margin, less than what many polls had predicted

Speaking during the vote count, Haley vowed to stay in the race, calling herself a “fighter”

Check this story over the course of the day for final results and more primary updates

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