Mary Schwalm/Reuters
While Donald Trump waltzed to victory in the New Hampshire GOP primary, Ohio Gov. John Kasich won the battle for second place ahead of third-place Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush in fourth, and Marco Rubio, who finished fifth after taking a severe hit from his widely panned debate performance this past weekend. Trump declared victory with 35 percent while Kasich came in second with nearly 16 percent of the vote, based on 92 percent of the returns. Such a tally means Kasich will likely grab four New Hampshire delegates, while Trump gets ten, Cruz and Bush three apiece, and Rubio gets two.
“Something big happened tonight,” Kasich said during his late-night speech, which he treated like a victory rally. “We have had tens and tens of millions of dollars spent against us with negative advertising, [but] we never went negative because we have more good to sell.” He offered a few words of hope: “Maybe just maybe we are turning the page on a dark part of American politics because tonight the light overcame the darkness of negative campaigning, and you made it happen.”