Sanders did better in rural N.H. than Clinton; rural vote helped Kasich get clear 2nd place in GOP race

Democratic winner Bernie Sanders and Republican runner-up John Kasich did better in the seven rural counties of New Hampshire than in the three metropolitan counties, the Daily Yonder reports in its analysis of the first presidential primary.

"The Ohio governor conducted over 100 town hall meetings in the state and maybe that paid off in rural communities," Tim Marema and Bill Bishop report. "Kasich won 13.5 percent of the vote in metropolitan New Hampshire, but notched about 17 percent in rural counties."

The Yonder was among those noting that Hillary Clinton's 39 percent "share of the statewide vote was comparable to the last time she ran in the New Hampshire primary – in 2008 against Barack Obama and John Edwards. . . . This year, the same percentage of the vote handed her a 29-point loss. Turnout was down 10 percent for Democrats from 2008, while Republicans saw about a 20 percent increase in voters over 2008."