Why AP called New Hampshire for Trump: Race call explained

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is the winner of the New Hampshire Republican primary.

The Associated Press declared Trump the winner based on an analysis of initial vote returns as well as the results of AP VoteCast, a survey of Republican primary voters. Both indicated Trump was running ahead of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley by an insurmountable margin.

Initial results from more than 25 townships showed Trump leading by a comfortable margin as of 8 p.m. This included results from Manchester and Concord, two of the state’s three most populous cities. Early returns were also reported from more rural areas in the northern and eastern parts of the state. All confirmed the findings of AP’s survey.

VoteCast also showed Trump leading Haley by a substantial margin across all regions of the state. It showed Haley supported by a majority of unaffiliated voters choosing to cast their ballot in the Republican primary. That wasn’t enough to make up for Trump’s nearly 50-point lead among registered Republicans. New Hampshire allows voters not affiliated with a political party to participate in either party’s primary. Voters registered with a party may only vote in their own party’s primary.