Strong turnout in New Hampshire could ease Democrats’ fears of low enthusiasm

The turnout in Tuesday night’s Democratic New Hampshire primary was the party’s highest ever and provided a hopeful sign to Democrats disappointed by low enthusiasm demonstrated in Iowa last week.

The roughly 291,000 votes counted as of early Wednesday afternoon outpaced the 288,672 who voted in 2008, the previous high for Democrats in the Granite State.

In contrast, the 176,574 who turned out to vote in Iowa last week was well behind 2008’s 239,872, which alarmed Democrats who believe a strong turnout will be necessary to oust President Donald Trump from the White House in November.

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The turnout in New Hampshire Tuesday night well exceeded that of 2016, when 253,062 voted. Nearly two dozen towns have yet to report their results, and other areas have not yet reported a count of write-in votes.

The Democratic turnout in Iowa in 2020 and 2016 was virtually unchanged.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez hailed the strong turnout in an interview on CNN’s “New Day” Wednesday, as well as the smooth operation in contrast to last week’s chaotic Iowa caucuses.

“It’s always a good night when you’re not talking about the process, but you’re talking about the candidates,” Perez said. “And we’re not only talking about the candidates, we’re talking about the turnout.”

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders narrowly edged out former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday night.