The first exit polls from New Hampshire are out, and they have some interesting nuggets
REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Networks among the exit-poll consortium just released preliminary data from daylong interviews with New Hampshire primary voters, who headed to the polls to cast their ballots on Tuesday.
The early results indicated, among other things, a large turnout of self-identified independent voters, many late-deciding, and broad concerns about the economy.
Here are some of the key points, according to results released by CNN, ABC News, and NBC News:
- Half of Republican voters interviewed said that they did not make a final decision about whom to support until the last few days.
- On the Democratic side, about one-quarter said that they decided whom to support within the last few days.
- About two-thirds said that "recent debates" were an "important factor" in their vote.
- Three-quarters of Republican voters said that they were "very worried" about the state of the US economy.
- About 30% of GOP voters described themselves as "very conservative," a noticeable jump from 2012 and 2008, according to CNN.
- According to NBC, about 42% of Republican voters and 39% of Democratic voters identified themselves as independents. Those results were more comparable to the 2000 open New Hampshire primary than 2008.
- According to ABC, nearly half of Republican voters said that they preferred a candidate from "outside the political establishment." That could bode well for real-estate mogul Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, as well as US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has a large grassroots following.
- A huge number, about 90% of Democrats, said that they thought the nation's economy "favors the wealthy."
- Nearly 7 in 10 Democratic voters identified themselves as "liberal," up from 56% in 2008.
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