Candidates score voters ahead of New Hampshire primary on Tuesday

NASHUA, New Hampshire (WLS) -- In the 48 hours ahead of the Granite state's presidential primary, Republican and Democratic candidates both worked to scour the state for votes.

Tuesday night's primary won't decide the race but the results are extremely important. A solid finish this week could set the tone for the rest of the campaign. Candidates were competing against the Super Bowl, but most only took a break just before kick-off.

As for the Democrats, Hillary Clinton left New Hampshire for Flint, Mich., to talk about the water contamination issue there. Bernie Sanders appeared on Saturday Night Live.

Republicans spent Sunday trying to capitalize, or in some cases minimize, what happened at Saturday night's ABC News GOP debate. Marco Rubio, who had been surging in the polls, fumbled in Saturday's debate with his own talking points and some believe that a poor showing on Tuesday could bench his campaign.

A group of Illinois state representatives spent Sunday campaigning for underdog John Kasich, including Illinois state Rep. Ron Sandack, R-Downers Grove

"I don't hear a lot of these candidates talking about issues like we're facing in Illinois," Sandack said. "That's one of the reasons we like John Kasich. When he became the governor of Ohio, they had something like 89 cents in the treasury. No kidding! They have a $2 billion surplus now."

Illinois state Rep. Ed Sullivan, R-Mundelein, was also in the group, adding "There's no doubt it's frustrating. That's one of the reasons we come out here is to put out his message that we need to work across the aisle."

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz had one of his biggest New Hampshire crowds yet and blasted his opponents who he said support drafting women into combat.

"Political correctness is dangerous and the idea that we would draft our daughters to forcibly bring them into the military and put them in close combat, I think is wrong," Cruz told the crowd.

Donald Trump doubled down on debate comments in which he practically endorsed torture.

He told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos: "We're going to do things beyond water boarding perhaps, if that happens to come."

While the candidates hold the spotlight, behind the scenes there were many volunteers.

Chicagoan Martin Sweet travelled through Iowa and was in New Hampshire on Sunday with Marco Rubio because he said Rubio's vision for America is similar to that of his wife, who moved to Skokie from Israel as a child.

"The way she talks about this country is the same way Marco talks about the country. Same word choice, same tone of voice. It's a reverence," Sweet said.