Feb. 11, 2020, 7:15 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 7:15 p.m. ET Most polls have closed in New Hampshire.

Feb. 11, 2020, 6:38 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 6:38 p.m. ET By Black Voters Matter, the Bloomberg recording, and Democratic politics. Image LaTosha Brown, a political organizer, at the offices of the New Georgia Project in Atlanta on Sept. 19, 2018. Credit... Audra Melton for The New York Times When the audio of Michael Bloomberg defending his stop-and-frisk policies in 2015 began circulating online Tuesday, LaTosha Brown, a founder of Black Voters Matter Fund, chose not to listen. “I can’t get mad today, so I said I would watch this evening,” she said, only half-joking. “I’ve had enough racism in one day.” In the audio recording, Mr. Bloomberg states that “ninety-five percent of your murders — murderers and murder victims — fit one M.O.,” before continuing: “You can just take the description, Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops. They are male, minorities, 16 to 25. That’s true in New York, that’s true in virtually every city.” Ms. Brown, who runs a nonprofit dedicated to voter engagement that she started in 2017, has not endorsed anyone in the Democratic primary. She has watched with increasing frustration how race is being discussed among the all-white top tier of candidates. Though there has been a discussion of race on the national debate stage, it has mostly focused on criminal justice and relative popularity among black voters. In an interview Tuesday, Ms. Brown discussed her view of the current field. The edited excerpts from the conversation can be found here. Read more

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Feb. 11, 2020, 6:14 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 6:14 p.m. ET By Maggie Haberman and New Hampshire tends to vote for Democrats, but Trump hopes to change that. Image Supporters look on as President Donald Trump makes remarks during a campaign rally in Manchester, N.H., on Monday. Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times MANCHESTER, N.H. — Donald J. Trump came within a few thousand votes of winning New Hampshire in the 2016 general election. This time around, fueled by a stockpile of donations, his campaign is looking at New Hampshire and its four electoral votes as a key target in its efforts to expand the map. There are some factors working in his favor. Instead of a feud with one of the Republican Party’s few female senators as well as a former governor, the president has the state party apparatus backing him. And his advisers think the policies he has put in place fit the contours of the state. But securing victory in a state that has been won by a Democrat in every presidential election since 2000 will be a test of both the president’s durability and his political operation. Mr. Trump’s allies say the issues are with him. The unemployment rate in the state was 2.6 percent in October 2019, lower than the national figure. Mr. Trump has highlighted his administration’s efforts to stem the opioid crisis in a state that continues to rank among the top five in opioid-related deaths. Yet if the New Hampshire Republican Party now belongs to the president, it has also seen a significant decline in enrollment. “New Hampshire is going to be a challenge for him to win in November,” said Jennifer Horn, the former New Hampshire Republican chairman and a staunch critic of Mr. Trump. “A week ago, we had more than 20,000 fewer registered Republicans than there were Election Day in 2016.” Read more

Feb. 11, 2020, 5:43 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 5:43 p.m. ET By South Carolina voters get a call: Biden ‘is going to be in town.’ Image Campaign staff for Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the Columbia, S.C., field office on Tuesday. Credit... Travis Dove for The New York Times COLUMBIA, S.C. — While the polls were still open in New Hampshire, the phones were working overtime at a field office for former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the state that is regarded as a must-win for him. Seven campaign staff members, some newly arrived from Iowa and happy for the South Carolina warmth and humidity, were dialing supporters to invite them to Mr. Biden’s hastily arranged campaign event on Tuesday night. The push came after Mr. Biden, facing a disappointing showing in Tuesday’s primary election, announced Monday that he would abandon New Hampshire and move on to South Carolina. “Hi, this is Nick,” one worker said, leaving a message. “I’m calling from the Joe Biden campaign to let you know that Joe is going to be in town with his wife, Jill, tonight.” As they worked to build a crowd, preparations were underway at the venue the campaign had rented for what was being billed as a “launch party.” The event was originally scheduled as an appearance by Cedric Richmond, the Louisiana representative who serves as Mr. Biden’s campaign co-chair, amid rumors that Mr. Biden planned to leave New Hampshire early in an effort to campaign in South Carolina. While Mr. Biden’s field office was humming in Columbia, the scene was much different in Orangeburg, a college town that was the site of the 1968 shootings known as the “Orangeburg Massacre” — when state troopers fired on black students protesting racial segregation at a bowling alley. The Biden field office in the city, about an hour south of Columbia, is in a once-grand home that was converted into a restaurant and, now, a campaign headquarters. But plans by the campaign to hold a volunteer canvassing event Tuesday afternoon were called off when no volunteers appeared, leaving two paid staff members working phones by themselves in the large space. As the staff members — one from Florida and another from Rhode Island — were making phone calls, they were also making plans to attend Mr. Biden’s appearance in Columbia. Read more

Feb. 11, 2020, 5:23 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 5:23 p.m. ET By Why New Hampshire won’t be like Iowa. Image An organizer directing caucusgoers at Washington Middle School in Dubuque, Iowa, on Feb. 3. Credit... Mark Makela for The New York Times If you’re on edge waiting for the results on Tuesday night from New Hampshire, worrying that all you’ll get is the mess we got in Iowa, we have good news for you: That’s extremely unlikely. The reason has nothing to do with the relative competence of the Iowa and New Hampshire Democratic Parties, and everything to do with the type of event. New Hampshire holds a primary, Iowa held caucuses, and that means greater potential for chaos was built into the Iowa process before a single precinct reported its results. Here’s why.

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Feb. 11, 2020, 5:09 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 5:09 p.m. ET By Biden has the best chance against Trump, Paul Ryan predicts — if he can get to November. Image Paul Ryan seen in 2018. Mr. Ryan said he thought the Democratic nominee was “going be one of these progressives, which I think will be much easier to beat.” Credit... Jim Young/Reuters As former Speaker Paul Ryan sees it, the only Democrat who could possibly beat President Trump in November is former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. The problem, Mr. Ryan said during an interview with CNBC, is that Mr. Biden isn’t likely to get the party’s nomination. “I’d say he’s probably the most likely one to have a chance at beating Donald Trump, but I don’t see Joe getting the nomination, I just don’t see him getting there,” Mr. Ryan told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble, who interviewed him at a conference in Abu Dhabi. Mr. Ryan, the former Wisconsin congressman who was Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012, said that Mr. Biden’s chances were dwindling as more liberal candidates like Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont have gained momentum, and as other moderates have shown strength. Mr. Ryan said he thought the Democratic nominee was “going be one of these progressives, which I think will be much easier to beat.” Read more

Feb. 11, 2020, 4:52 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 4:52 p.m. ET In Rye, a little fun on one side as voting takes place on the other. Image Liam Belden, wearing hat, played ball with Aidan Piela as people voted in the background at Rye Elementary School in Rye, N.H. Credit... Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Feb. 11, 2020, 4:36 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 4:36 p.m. ET By Shane Goldmacher and A Warren memo describes rivals’ flaws and her path forward. MANCHESTER, N.H. — In a lengthy memo outlining a path forward for Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, her campaign manager drew the sharpest contrasts to date with her rivals in the fractured primary campaign. The memo by Roger Lau, Ms. Warren’s campaign manager, argued that Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont had a political “ceiling,” that former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was at risk of having his support collapse, and that former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., would struggle in more diverse states. The nearly 2,000-word memo describes a “volatile and unpredictable” 2020 race that would remain muddled through Super Tuesday in early March. The memo outlined a path forward despite a disappointing third-place finish in Iowa and as the campaign braced for the possibility of even a worse finish in New Hampshire. “Warren has proven the doubters wrong before,” Mr. Lau wrote in the memo provided to The New York Times and sent to supporters and staff on Tuesday afternoon. Read more

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Feb. 11, 2020, 4:20 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 4:20 p.m. ET By Biden campaign official: Look at this Bloomberg stop-and-frisk tape. Image Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. got back on his bus after visiting supporters at a polling location in Nashua, N.H., on Tuesday. Mr. Biden later decided to abandon the state for South Carolina. Credit... Elizabeth Frantz for The New York Times MANCHESTER, N.H. — The campaign of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. wants to make sure people are aware of the audio recording circulating of Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York mayor, talking about stop-and-frisk policing policies. Trey Baker, the Biden campaign’s director of African-American engagement, sent an email Monday night that directed people to a tweet of Mr. Bloomberg’s remarks. “Good evening everyone,” Mr. Baker wrote. “This video of Mike Bloomberg talking about targeting black and brown people with his stop-and-frisk tactics is going around and I wanted to make sure that you saw it. Feel free to share with your networks.” Reached Tuesday, Mr. Baker said the email, which was sent from his joebiden.com email address and included his Biden for President email signature, was not meant as an official communication on behalf of the campaign. “I was just forwarding it to some of my contacts,” Mr. Baker said in a brief interview. “I mean, it’s not anything that’s campaign-related. I should have sent it from my personal. It had just started going around so I sent to a couple of folks.” Mr. Baker said he could not speak about the substance of Mr. Bloomberg’s comments on the record. “It stands for itself,” he said. Mr. Biden, who placed fourth in Iowa’s caucuses and is leaving New Hampshire before primary voting concludes to appear at a Tuesday-night rally in South Carolina, has himself refrained from criticizing Mr. Bloomberg about his stop-and-frisk history. “I’m looking forward to debating Mike Bloomberg about his support for African-Americans,” Mr. Biden said Tuesday during an interview on MSNBC. “I’m looking forward to debating Mike Bloomberg about his tenure as mayor. I’m looking forward to debating him, because I sure can’t compete with him in terms of his money.” A spokeswoman for the Bloomberg campaign declined to comment. Read more

Feb. 11, 2020, 4:00 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 4:00 p.m. ET By Warren visits polling places: ‘We fight for every vote.’ Image Senator Elizabeth Warren greeted a dog named Bongo as she says hello to voters at the Amherst Street School, a polling place in Nashua, N.H., on Tuesday Credit... Ruth Fremson/The New York Times MANCHESTER, N.H. — Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts greeted voters at several polling locations across New Hampshire on Tuesday, trying to energize support as she sought to improve her electoral standing. In Durham, N.H., Ms. Warren criticized former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. for his decision to abandon New Hampshire and head to South Carolina. The vice president, facing the possibility of a fourth- or even fifth-place finish in the primary here, said Tuesday that he would move on to South Carolina, where he currently polls strongly with black voters. “I think it says that he’s not here to fight for the votes in New Hampshire,” Ms. Warren said. “I think that this is what democracy is about. You get out there, you talk to voters and we fight for every vote. That’s who I am. I am a fighter.” During the stops, Ms. Warren thanked her supporters and those of other candidates with her usual energy, shaking hands and posing for pictures before talking with reporters. In Manchester, Ms. Warren sought to project confidence before polls closed in New Hampshire. She is expected to finish Tuesday night behind Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind. Ms. Warren’s team believes the nomination will be a long slog, with several candidates fighting for delegates. With that in mind, during her stops at polling places on Tuesday, Ms. Warren stuck to her campaign theme of unity, making sure to greet supporters of other candidates in addition to her own. Read more

Feb. 11, 2020, 3:39 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 3:39 p.m. ET By After New Hampshire, Nevada takes center stage for Democrats. After Tuesday night, the next state on the Democratic road tour is Nevada, which holds its caucus Feb. 22. But early voting begins there on Saturday, and Democrats are scrambling to prevent a repeat of the chaos that unfolded in Iowa last week. Whether they can prevent widespread confusion is the, well, primary question right now. After quickly moving to ditch the same app used in the Iowa caucuses, Nevada Democratic officials have spent the last week struggling to figure out what to do instead. Initially, officials said they would not use an app “that can be downloaded on your phone.” But this weekend, they indicated there was a strong likelihood that they would rely on an app pre-loaded onto an iPad to tabulate and report the results of the roughly 2,000 caucus sites throughout the state. On Tuesday morning, the state party released its plans for tallying early voting sites, which will use paper ballots that will then be scanned. Officials will give that information to precincts on caucus day next week. The South Carolina primary follows Nevada at the end of the month. Read more

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Feb. 11, 2020, 3:24 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 3:24 p.m. ET By Surrogate defends Biden’s decision to leave New Hampshire. MANCHESTER, N.H. — Former Gov. John Lynch of New Hampshire had the difficult task on Tuesday of defending former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s decision to leave the state for South Carolina. Mr. Lynch, a top Biden supporter in New Hampshire, did his best to put a rosy spin on Mr. Biden’s decision. “Many candidates, at the end of the day, they head to the next place, which is what he’s doing,” Mr. Lynch told reporters outside a polling place that Mr. Biden was visiting. “As a supporter and somebody who understands that he’s in this for the long haul, I think it’s a smart move on his part,” Mr. Lynch added. Asked what went wrong for Mr. Biden in New Hampshire, Mr. Lynch pointed to a hurdle that Mr. Biden had also cited: the challenge of competing against two candidates, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who are from neighboring states. (One problem with that argument: former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota appear to be thriving in New Hampshire despite the presence of Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren.) Just as Mr. Biden has done, Mr. Lynch suggested looking beyond New Hampshire. “I think we should wait and see how well he does in South Carolina and Nevada,” he said Read more

Feb. 11, 2020, 3:00 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 3:00 p.m. ET By The candidates are looking beyond the early states. Image Candidate signs on display in Concord, N.H. on Tuesday. Credit... Elizabeth Frantz for The New York Times After the results are in from New Hampshire, attention will turn to the second half of the early-voting quartet: Nevada and South Carolina. But some candidates are looking further out. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, for instance, just announced rallies on Friday in Durham and Charlotte, N.C., and Mesquite, Tex. Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., is heading to Nevada but also to California — for a campaign event in Sacramento and some big-dollar fund-raisers. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts will be campaigning in Arlington, Va. And former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has a fund-raiser scheduled in Denver. California, Colorado, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia all vote on Super Tuesday, which is March 3. That day alone will determine about a third of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention. It will also be the first time the candidates will compete against former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, who skipped the first four contests and has poured staggering amounts of money into the Super Tuesday states. Read more

Feb. 11, 2020, 2:29 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 2:29 p.m. ET By Democrats are closely watching the turnout after a disappointing Iowa. Image Barbara Daley, a ballot clerk, awaited voters at the Deerfield Town Hall on Tuesday. Democrats are hoping for a large turnout across the state. Credit... Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times Democrats have made a real push to turn out voters since the election of President Trump. In 2018, turnout in the midterm elections reached the highest level in a century and helped Democrats take control of the House of Representatives with a gain of 40 seats. A year later, the party won the governorships in two traditionally conservative states — Kentucky and Louisiana — with help from a historic surge of voters. But Democrats fell down in the Iowa caucuses, the first test of their 2020 might. The leading campaigns were prepared for as many as 300,000 people to show up for the caucuses — 60,000 more than the record set in 2008. Instead, just 176,000 showed up, less than 3 percent more than in 2016. New Hampshire officials predicted a very different outcome in their state, where independents can also vote in party primaries. The secretary of state, Bill Gardner, believes more than 500,000 people will vote in the primary, a turnout of more than 50 percent of the state’s registered voters. Worried about the November election against Mr. Trump, Democrats will be keeping a close eye on the turnout. Anything short of history-making numbers is most likely to be seen as a disappointment, one that may send another wave of anxiety through party leaders. Read more

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Feb. 11, 2020, 1:10 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 1:10 p.m. ET By Klobuchar wraps her last-minute push around The Union Leader. MANCHESTER, N.H. — Copies of the New Hampshire Union Leader were a bit heavier this morning. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, whose campaign has caught a shot of life in New Hampshire, bought what’s known as a “wrap ad” on the state’s biggest paper, so named because a part of the ad covers the front page. The @amyklobuchar wrap ad of the @UnionLeader includes a full page on the back of her platform pic.twitter.com/2FbsX4CkiZ — Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) February 11, 2020 Last month, Ms. Klobuchar earned the endorsement of The Union Leader, which dismissed the Democratic field as littered with vulnerabilities and weaknesses, and concluded that “Senator Klobuchar has none of those weaknesses and the incumbent needs to be presented with a challenger who is not easily dismissed.” The endorsement has been a constant talking point for Ms. Klobuchar in her effort to show support for her campaign. It has been featured in ads and constantly mentioned on the stump. Until recently, Ms. Klobuchar had scant support to speak of, even in New Hampshire, where she has campaigned hard since last year. But lately — and especially after her strong showing at Friday’s Democratic debate in Manchester — she has seen a bump. According to multiple surveys taken over the weekend, she is now polling in the double-digits among Democratic voters in the Granite State. During an interview on Fox News, Ms. Klobuchar gave her interviewer, Bret Baier, a copy of The Union Leader with the endorsement. With a daily circulation of roughly 45,500, and a top-of-the-newsstand presence throughout the state, thousands of voters will get one last look at Ms. Klobuchar before they cast their vote. Read more

Feb. 11, 2020, 12:26 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 12:26 p.m. ET By Another national poll gives Sanders a lead over Biden. Image Senator Bernie Sanders visited a polling place at McDonough Elementary School in Manchester on Tuesday. Credit... Chang W. Lee/The New York Times Senator Bernie Sanders’s support is solid. Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s is fading. And former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., and former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York are looking like the contenders to seize the mantle of the Democratic Party’s moderate wing. That’s the picture of the Democratic presidential race presented by Monmouth University in a national poll released Tuesday. Mr. Sanders enjoys an outright lead over Mr. Biden for the first time since Monmouth began polling this election cycle, pulling 26 percent to Mr. Biden’s 16 percent, the poll found. Mr. Buttigieg and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts are each at 13 percent, and Mr. Bloomberg is at 11 percent — his first double-digit showing in a Monmouth poll. The results are largely in line with another national poll, released Monday by Quinnipiac University, which showed Mr. Sanders leading and Mr. Biden falling. Mr. Sanders’s popularity is growing in particular with left-leaning voters: Among liberals, his support jumped since January, to 39 percent from 26 percent, the survey found. He is polling about evenly among white and nonwhite voters, and among those with and without a college degree. Mr. Biden was hobbled by a poor showing in last week’s Iowa caucuses: He has lost virtually half of his support since last month, when a Monmouth poll showed him at 30 percent. His favorability rating has also taken a hit: He is seen positively by 64 percent of registered Democrats, and negatively by 26 percent. That amounts to a 38-point net favorability rating, down from 52 points last month. Read more

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Feb. 11, 2020, 11:59 a.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 11:59 a.m. ET By Sanders will have a tough time against Trump, Buttigieg says. Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg said in an interview that aired Tuesday that it “would be very difficult” for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont to beat President Trump in November, criticizing his rival on a central question for many voters. Mr. Buttigieg made the comments in an interview with Savannah Guthrie, an anchor of NBC’s “Today” show. “When you look at someone like Bernie Sanders who has a history, who has identified himself as a democratic socialist, is this someone that you think can win?” Ms. Guthrie asked. Mr. Buttigieg responded: “I think it would be very difficult, and it’s not just because of the labels. It’s because of the approach.” He went on: “When you look at what he’s proposing in terms of the budget, all the things he’s put forward and how to pay for them, there is a $25 trillion hole in how to pay for everything that he’s put forward.” Mr. Sanders and Mr. Buttigieg finished in a virtual tie in the Iowa caucuses, and they are leading in the New Hampshire polls — with starkly different visions for the country. While Mr. Sanders has railed against the elite, and called for Medicare for all and stronger regulation of Wall Street and drug companies, Mr. Buttigieg has emphasized the idea that he’d bring together people from across the political spectrum with a message of moderation. Read more

Feb. 11, 2020, 11:42 a.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020, 11:42 a.m. ET By And now a word from Kevin Costner, about Buttigieg. Image Kevin Costner spoke at an event for Pete Buttigieg in Exeter on Monday. Credit... Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times EXETER, N.H. — It was an odd political trick, suggesting that maybe the candidate he was speaking for might not be the only one who can solve the nation’s problems, but Kevin Costner wasn’t there to deliver a firebrand introduction. Mr. Costner traveled with former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., during the final day of New Hampshire campaigning. He delivered opening remarks for Mr. Buttigieg’s closing rally Monday night at Exeter High School. But instead of a speech enthusiastically backing Mr. Buttigieg, Mr. Costner spoke for eight minutes and gave what could have been a monologue from one of his sappier films. “He doesn’t compete to be the loudest,” Mr. Costner said of Mr. Buttigieg. “His silences are those of someone who is thinking.” Mr. Costner did not implore the crowd to go out and volunteer and knock doors for Mr. Buttigieg. He was just there, he said, to tell them whom he is supporting. And that’s Mr. Buttigieg, he said, because the former mayor is a good listener. “One person alone is not smart enough to have all the good ideas,” Mr. Costner said. “One party alone cannot have all the good ideas. So what we have to have is to have a candidate who has the good sense to not care where the good idea comes from. What we have to have is to have a president secure enough to let all Americans benefit without regard for who gets the credit for the good idea.” Read more