New Hampshire Primary: Trump, Sanders win

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders emerged from Tuesday's New Hampshire primary with their first victories of the 2016 presidential election, while rivals hoped a state famous for political surprises would give their own White House bids a needed boost.

They are the underdogs - current and former governors who need to come in third or fourth in New Hampshire to keep their campaigns alive.

Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Chris Christie - running around New Hampshire, 100 stops, with Donald Trump's craziest comments getting all the notice.

"I don't have any frustration. I'm doing great," Kasich said.

"You get beyond the insults and all the divisiveness. We're electing a president," Bush said.

On Monday night, Trump did it again, smugly repeating a supporter's crude statement about Ted Cruz.

"I didn't say it. That was a repeat that a woman said it and it was repeated," Trump said.

Senator Marco Rubio says polls and the media don't give voters enough credit.

"They're going to make decisions based on who they think is best ready to lead the country, and that's why we feel good," he said.

Forty-six percent of Republican voters said they were undecided going into Tuesday's primary. Kasich was the top-Googled candidate in the state.

"We know how to grow jobs, and we know how to bring people together, leave nobody behind, and we do better economically," he said.

Bush and his super PAC spent more in New Hampshire than anyone else: $30 million.

"Your father shook my hand, and he won. Your brother shook my hand, and he won," a voter told Bush.

Under-pinning all of these campaigns are volunteers like Tom Volini from Logan Square. He's been pulling his Airstream around New Hampshire for three weeks supporting Kasich.

"Thousands of miles. This guy is worth it!" Volini said.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton hopes a loss Tuesday night to Bernie Sanders isn't so steep it creates questions about her candidacy.

"I'd like them to stick with the issues and not have them dump on everybody," said voter Bob Kevorkian.

As for the governors who need a strong showing, at least one is laughing about it.

"What do you have to do to get out of here?" Kasich is asked.

"I probably have to keep breathing, walking, living," he says.

It's that humility that attracts supporters like Winnetka native Jeff Phillips.

"He really speaks to me, and that's why I'm out here braving the cold to do what I can to support him," Phillips said.

READ: The 2016 frontrunners' issues and positions

Trump nails it in New Hampshire; Kasich snags second

Donald Trump nailed down a decisive first victory in New Hampshire's presidential primary Tuesday, proving his unorthodox campaign can translate the large crowds at his rambunctious rallies into the votes that determine delegates. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, an afterthought in Iowa, popped up in second.

"Wow, wow, wow, wow," Trump declared, savoring his victory at a campaign rally before promising swift action as president on the economy, trade, health care and more. "We are going to do something so good and so fast and so strong and the world is going to respect us again."

New Hampshire showed voter anger is for real, but it seemed unlikely to give much clarity to the search for a strong establishment alternative to Trump.

Right behind Kasich: a cluster including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who'd all been hoping for a strong showing that would produce an influx of new donor money and attention as the election moves on to South Carolina. A somber New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who had dedicated a significant amount of time to New Hampshire, lagged behind and said it was time to "take a deep breath."

Trump, stung by his second-place showing in Iowa last week, had been determined to make New Hampshire his proving ground for a campaign that has defied convention wisdom from the start. With more than two-thirds of the vote counted, Trump was outpacing Kasich, his closest competitor, by a 2-to-1 margin.

Exit polls showed Trump drew support from voters looking for an outsider and from those who made up their minds a while ago.

Count Nashua car salesman Val Goldenberg as a Trump voter: "I think America really needs a good shake-up," he said.

A strong performance in New Hampshire was critical for Kasich, who all but skipped Iowa's caucuses to grind out town hall after town hall in New Hampshire.

Stressing his campaign's positive focus, Kasich told his supporters his second-place finish suggested that "at a time when clearly change is in the air, maybe, just maybe, we are turning the page on the dark part of American politics."

Among the also-rans:

-Cruz, who claimed a strong victory in Iowa, cast the New Hampshire results as a victory for the "conservative grassroots."

-Rubio, who had arrived in New Hampshire with a burst of momentum after placing a strong third in Iowa, acknowledged New Hampshire was a setback for him.

"Our disappointment tonight is not on you. It's on me," he told supporters. A shaky debate performance Saturday sparked criticism from his rivals that the 44-year old freshman senator lacks the experience to lead the nation.

-Bush, grateful to be in the mix, said New Hampshire voters had "reset" the race, adding that his campaign "is not dead" and will move on to South Carolina.

-Christie told supporters: "We're going to take a deep breath and see what the final results are tonight. There's no reason to go to South Carolina and sit in a hotel room and do that."

Overall, Republican voters were very negative about how things are going in Washington these days, according to early results from an exit poll conducted by Edison Research for the Associated Press and the television networks. Nearly half of Republicans said they were dissatisfied and 4 in 10 were angry. Trump did best with voters who were angry; dissatisfied voters were somewhat less likely to break for Trump.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.