The Hill’s Campaign Report: Democratic primary fight shifts to South Carolina, Nevada

Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, your daily rundown on all the latest news in the 2020 presidential, Senate and House races. Did someone forward this to you? Click here to subscribe.

We’re Julia Manchester, Max Greenwood and Jonathan Easley. Here’s what we’re watching today on the campaign trail. 

 

LEADING THE DAY:

BOSTON, MASS. — Hello from Logan Airport one day after the first-in-the-nation primary! New Hampshire is feeling the Bern this morning after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won the primary on Tuesday, walking away with 25.9 percent support. Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg was at Sanders’s heels with 24.1 percent. The real surprise of the night was Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who came in third with 19.8 percent. These results are based on 83 percent of the precincts reported. 

With New Hampshire in the bag, now all eyes are on Nevada and South Carolina where the candidates will face a vastly different political environment. Iowa and New Hampshire are majority white states with vast swaths of rural land with smaller cities. Nevada and South Carolina are home to Hispanic and African American communities and more robust urban centers like Las Vegas in Nevada, and Charleston in South Carolina. 

This will present a challenge to Buttigieg and Klobuchar in particular due to their low polling numbers among communities of color. However, both campaigns are working to make inroads in the state. Buttigieg’s campaign announced it was expanding its South Carolina staff to 55 across its six field offices in the state. Meanwhile, Klobuchar’s campaign launched two new ads in Nevada today. Sanders, who has diversified his coalition since 2016, will come into the states with a boost in momentum after strong performances in Iowa and New Hampshire. 

Both states will be make or break for former Vice President Joe Biden, who came in fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire. Biden didn’t even appear at his New Hampshire primary night party, instead holding an event in South Carolina, complete with cheering supporters. Biden is betting on strong showings or wins in the upcoming states. However, we don’t know yet if his poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire will impact voter choices in Nevada and South Carolina. 

–Julia Manchester 

 

Here are some scenes from last night’s watch parties: 

 

Lots of excitement at @PeteButtigieg’s results party as the race tightens with @BernieSanders pic.twitter.com/2oMeOOQZbq

— Julia Manchester (@JuliaManch) February 12, 2020

 

Amy chants pic.twitter.com/ZQSgfLCpZj

— Cate Martel (@CateMartel) February 12, 2020

 

Bernie Sanders takes the stage in Durham: “in case you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of people here tonight.” Sanders said tonight’s rally has 3x the people than at any other NH Democratic rally this cycle. (Last night he set that record with 1,981) pic.twitter.com/L7E2ngXyG8

— Emma Kinery (@EmmaKinery) February 11, 2020

 

READ MORE: 

Sanders wins Democratic New Hampshire primary, by Jonathan Easley

Winners and losers from the New Hampshire primary, by Niall Stanage

5 takeaways from New Hampshire, by Jon

Sanders on NH victory: Win is ‘beginning of the end for Donald Trump,’ by Tal

Buttigieg congratulates Sanders on ‘strong showing’ in New Hampshire, by Julia Manchester

Biden, Warren on ropes after delegate shutout, by Reid Wilson

Trump: Nothing too ‘fabulous’ for Democrats in New Hampshire results, by Justin Wise

Trump sees Sanders as Democratic front-runner, by Brett Samuels

 

FROM THE TRAIL:

First off, some breaking news from Iowa. Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price resigned Wednesday following the state’s embarrassing caucus debacle.

“While it is my desire to stay in this role and see this process through to completion, I do believe it is time for the Iowa Democratic Party to begin looking forward, and my presence in my current role makes that more difficult,” Price said in a letter to the Democratic Party’s State Central Committee. “Therefore, I will resign as chair of the Iowa Democratic Party effective upon the election of my replacement.” More from The Hill’s Rebecca Klar here.

 

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Tom Perez said on Wednesday that he’s open to rethinking the presidential primary schedule and reforming the caucus system after a debacle in Iowa caused an extended delay in the results of the first-in-the-nation caucuses,” The Hill’s Kaelan Deese reports. “I think the time is ripe for that conversation,” Perez said during an appearance on CNN. “I want to make sure that we reflect the grand diversity of our party in everything we do.” The DNC chief’s remarks raise the possibility that Iowa could lose its status as the first state to vote in presidential nominating contests. Democrats have long debated the value of having states like Iowa and New Hampshire vote first, but with the drama surrounding this year’s caucuses, it has become more likely than ever that the actual order of the nominating contest could be reworked.

 

Buttigieg is stepping up his efforts in Nevada and South Carolina in advance of the presidential nominating contests in those states, Max reports. In Nevada, he’s looking to double his organizing operation, and in South Carolina, he’s adding 55 new staffers, his campaign said Wednesday.

 

Klobuchar raised more than $2.5 million in the hours after the polls closed in New Hampshire on Tuesday, her campaign said, a sign that the Minnesota senator benefited from a late boost of momentum in the Granite State, The Hill’s Tal Axelrod reports. She ultimately placed third in the state’s presidential primary on Tuesday night, a better-than-expected finish for a candidate who lagged the field’s top-tier hopefuls in fundraising and polling metrics for most of the past year. It was the second fundraising windfall Klobuchar saw within the past week. After a primary debate on Friday night, her campaign said that it raised roughly $2 million.

 

The Iowa Democratic Party is expected to begin a recanvass of caucus results on Sunday after Buttigieg and Sanders asked it to review its tallies, Max reports. The party said that it would transmit information about the recanvass timeline and the cost of the process on Friday morning. The campaigns will then have 24 hours to confirm whether they want the party to move forward with the recanvass. Buttigieg and Sanders have both declared victory in Iowa, with the former leading in the delegate count and the latter claiming a win in the “popular vote.” The delegate count is the traditional metric by which winners are declared in Iowa. The recanvass requests came after news outlets and the campaigns flagged apparent errors and inconsistencies in the caucus results.

 

PERSPECTIVES:

Steve Israel: Rotating regional primaries: A grand bargain to save Iowa

Al Hunt: New Hampshire only exacerbates Democratic Party agita

Martin Frost: The questions ahead for Democrats all start with Joe Biden

 

FROM CONGRESS AND THE STATES:

We’re all waiting to see how Super Tuesday bears out for the Democratic presidential field next month. But it’s worth remembering that a handful of states will hold primaries for down ballot contests the same day, including for races that will be crucial to determining control of the Senate. Max has a rundown of what Senate primaries to watch right here. 

 

POLL WATCH:

HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY – NORTH CAROLINA

Biden: 24 percent

Sanders: 20 percent

Bloomberg: 16 percent

Warren: 11 percent

Buttigieg: 8 percent

Steyer: 4 percent

Klobuchar: 3 percent

Gabbard: 2 percent

 

HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY – NORTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC SENATE PRIMARY

Cal Cunningham: 37 percent

Erica Smith: 11 percent

Steven Swenson: 4 percent

Trevor Fuller: 4 percent

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

There are 10 days until the Nevada caucuses, 17 days until the South Carolina primary and 20 days until Super Tuesday. 

 

ONE FUN THING: 

TRAIL SNACKS: New Hampshire political Twitter blew up in the run-up to the primary, not because of the candidates or results, but because of Dunkin’ Donuts. 

Reporters who descended upon New Hampshire for the primary voiced their gratitude for the New England staple, despite the fact that most of us can easily get some Dunkin’ in our hometowns and cities outside of the region.

 

no one:

trail reporters: Clutching steaming white to-go cups of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee — a local specialty — flinty New Hampshire residents prepared to go to the polls on Tu

— Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) February 10, 2020

 

Meanwhile, the candidates got in on the Dunkin’ game as well, passing out donuts to supporters at polling precincts yesterday. We can confirm those on the Buttigieg press bus on Saturday were also given some Dunkin as a midday snack. 

 

$DNKN Senator Elizabeth Warren offering Dunkin Donuts to her supporters. I love the chocolate heart-shaped and the toasted coconut. #2020LuisStocks Stock sort of doing nothing like her… pic.twitter.com/eBef7KziGy

— Luis Gutierrez (@newamericano) February 12, 2020

 

“We’re still mildly hopeful here in New Hampshire,” Biden says at a Dunkin Donuts, just after his campaign announced he was leaving for South Carolina before polls close here. “We’ll see what happens.” pic.twitter.com/IZu07Sv0Yy

— Matt Viser (@mviser) February 11, 2020

 

Look who showed up today for encouragement before canvassing. @PeteButtigieg even brought Dunkin Donuts for the team pic.twitter.com/4N0YePpNhv

— Rosemary Lesser (@rtlesser) February 8, 2020

 

Folks, arguably no one makes the New Hampshire centric pitch like ⁦@amyklobuchar⁩. “I’ve gone to Dunkin Donuts,” she says on The View from Manchester

Here’s more on her swift rise here ahead of the #NHprimary2020 —> https://t.co/odr2OuGmSX

— Hanna Trudo (@HCTrudo) February 11, 2020

 

Guys, Dunkin’ Donuts won the New Hampshire primary. 

 

We’ll see you tomorrow from Washington, D.C., with the latest campaign news!