The New Hampshire primaries ended in a clear success for Bernie Sanders (D) and Donald Trump (R) Tuesday evening, but it was the Republican runner-ups who yielded interesting results.
With 90 percent of polls reporting at time of press, Sanders had a substantial lead over Iowa-victor Hillary Clinton with 60 percent of the vote.
With 83 percent of polls reporting at time of press, Trump also had a substantial lead with 35 percent of the votes. In what was a surprise to many, however, Ohio governor John Kasich came in second with 16 percent of the votes, surpassing Ted Cruz, who gained 12 percent of the vote.  Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, who tied at 11 percent.
Communication professor and fellow at the Public Policy Institute Kirby Goidel said while Kasich may not have been appearing prominently in national campaigns before New Hampshire, Kasich’s ground work in New Hampshire, and it payed off at the polls.
“He was working NH much harder than Iowa,” Goidel said. “I think most people will be treating Kasich like the winner, because it was unexpected and because he emerged in second place.”
Following a strong turnout in Iowa, Marco Rubio saw a surge in his polling numbers, but after a poor debate on Saturday — specifically against Chris Christie — his numbers fell again, before he ultimately fell to below both Cruz and Jeb Bush.
Goidel said while New Hampshire is a blow in his campaign, Rubio shouldn’t be counted out heading into the next Republican primary in South Carolina.
“It’ll be interesting to see if he can recover because I don’t think he’s completely gone because South Carolina should be a better place for him and so, can he re-emerge is the question,” Goidel said. “I do think he had one of those moments where he could have changed the nature and the direction of the campaign and then the Christie moment stalled it, but also the feeling of the other campaigns that they had to stop Rubio.”
After an incredibly close second-place finish in Iowa, Sanders looked strong in the polls to dominate in New Hampshire, and he delivered. President of Texas Aggie Democrats and geophysics senior Amol Shalia said this doesn’t necessarily mean Clinton’s campaign is over.
“There’s a lot more campaigning to do,” Shalia said. “This is about momentum, and Bernie Sanders tied it out with Hillary in Iowa and he has outright won New Hampshire with a sizeable majority, so he has that momentum and he’s going to take that to Nevada and we will see how his message is going to play out in the West, and of course on Super Tuesday in the South.”
Texas A&M College Republicans could not be reached for comment.