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Watching the results trickle in and hoping for an unlikely surge, Chris Christie supporters set a modest target: reach 10 percent. | Getty For Christie supporters, it's booze and blues in New Hampshire

NASHUA, N.H. — It's hard to throw a party when there's little to celebrate, but an open bar helps.

The election-night party for Chris Christie was a somber affair, with supporters coming to terms with a disappointing finish for the New Jersey governor in a primary contest where he had staked his campaign hopes on a strong finish.

Instead, as of 9:22 p.m., Christie had just 8.2 percent of the vote, lagging behind Donald Trump, Ohio Gov. John Kasich in second, Sen. Ted Cruz, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and Sen. Marco Rubio in that order.

Watching the results trickle in and hoping for an unlikely surge, Christie supporters set a modest target: reach 10 percent.

"I'm looking to see if he can make the 10 percent threshold which is what he'd need to get delegates in New Hampshire," said former New Hampshire state House Speaker Donna Sytek, a Christie supporter here. "Looking at the results, it's clear that his debate performance made people pay attention to the fact that we need to have a governor. The bad news is it was the other two governors. It's kind of a good cop, bad cop. He was the bad cop."

But Sytek said she didn't expect Christie to drop out on Tuesday night.

"I don't think so. Because he's got reservations in South Carolina and you know they don't cancel reservations so you gotta go," Sytek said, chuckling.

If nothing else, the bar was busy throughout the night: "Well, the state needs some money," Sytek said.

Catherine Johnson, a volunteer for Christie here, also said she expected Christie to go to South Carolina: "He's announced his schedule. He's invited him to go and so until I hear otherwise I'm going to believe we're going," Johnson said.

Johnson also said the last GOP debate "changed the game" in Christie's favor. Indeed, if Christie's end is near, his largest contribution to the campaign may be his dressing down of Rubio during Saturday night's debate, in which he put Rubio into full repeat mode and appears to have at least paused whatever momentum the senator had coming out of Iowa.

At 9:36 Wayne McDonald, Christie's New Hampshire campaign chairman came out, saying Christie was watching the results come in.

"He will be out after we've watched a little longer," McDonald said. "We do appreciate your hanging in. We appreciate you coming tonight and he will be coming down to speak soon."

The music came back on. It was Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'."