MANCHESTER, New Hampshire - Senator Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire state Democratic primary, while real estate mogul Donald Trump was projected to win in the crowded Republican field with the final finishing order yet to be settled.
With 92% of precincts reporting, Sanders was holding onto 60% of the vote with Clinton carrying 38%. Trump was capturing 35% of the Republican primary vote, better than twice the count for second-place John Kasich.
Sanders' victory in the first-in-the-nation primary, after his razor-thin loss to Clinton in the Iowa caucuses on Feb 1, means the party could be headed for a long and competitive nominating fight.
With a win in New Hampshire, Trump re-assumed his front-runner status in the Republican nominating contest after finishing second in the Iowa caucuses on Feb 1 to Texas Senator Ted Cruz, despite leading state and national polls for months.
Clinton's defeat - by a 74-year-old Democratic socialist, in a state she won in 2008 - is sure to stoke worries among her supporters about her strength in upcoming contests, even as she still is on track to win the Democratic nomination.
Sanders had led polls by double digits in New Hampshire for months, and Clinton never seriously challenged him for a win there, even after she narrowly beat Sanders in Iowa.
Robby Mook, Clinton's campaign manager, essentially conceded the race in a statement released right as final polls closed at 8am (Thailand time) in New Hampshire.
US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivers her concession speech in the New Hampshire primary, beside her husband Bill Clinton (right), at Southern New Hampshire University in Hooksett, New Hampshire. (EPA photo)
In an attempt to assure Clinton supporters, he said splitting the first two contests was "an outcome we've long anticipated."
The campaign was focusing now on the next two contests, caucuses in Nevada and a primary in South Carolina, "and we feel very good about our prospects for success," Mook said.
"The nomination will very likely be won in March, not February, and we believe that Hillary Clinton is well positioned to build a strong – potentially insurmountable – delegate lead next month," he said.
While her campaign tried to dismiss Sanders' lead in New Hampshire as "home-field advantage" as a New England candidate, polling data showed that Clinton had lost support since 2008 among women - especially young women - as well as blue-collar workers and those earning less than $50,000 a year.
It showed why Sanders' message of a rigged economy benefiting the wealthy is resonating.