Trisha Thadani

USA TODAY

MANCHESTER, N.H. — On the top floor of an Italian restaurant here, with a fire burning and a woman playing acoustic songs in the background, GOP candidate Jim Gilmore greeted the few supporters who came out to his primary watch party.

"I don’t think we’ll win this thing, but let’s see if we can get some recognition," Gilmore said as he shook hands with a supporter.

About 10 people came out to the New Hampshire primary watch party for Jim Gilmore — a GOP candidate who has largely flown under the radar during the 2016 presidential campaign. Just a few miles away, hundreds of people attended watch parties for Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

Gilmore, the former governor of Virginia, had 0.05% of votes in the New Hampshire primary as of late Tuesday.

He has had a tough run in the current presidential campaign. During last week’s Iowa caucus, the former governor garnered the support of 12 caucusgoers.

"I entered the race having been out of office for a considerable amount of time," he said, as Sanders' victory speech played on the TV in front of him. "I wasn’t a sitting governor, my father wasn’t president, and my brother wasn’t president."

Sam Cataldo, a 79-year-old New Hampshire state senator, blames the media for the lack of attention Gilmore has received.

"The man has a hell of a background, but the media keeps playing Trump, Trump, and Trump," Cataldo, the first person who showed up the watch party, said. "There’s more to life than just Trump."

Along with being the former governor of Virginia, Gilmore is also a military veteran, former attorney general of Virginia, and a member of the national board of directors of the National Rifle Association. Given his background, Gilmore said he believes he would be the best candidate to lead the country in a time of crisis.

"I think we could have won [the race] on the basis of credentials and ideas for the American people," he said. "But the political process overcame that."

Michael Farinola, a 49-year-old veteran, said Gilmore’s biggest downfall is that he has yet to master the "six-second sound byte" that the other candidates — namely, Trump — have.

"He may not talk that much, but you have to look at what he’s done," Farinola said. "But if he doesn’t talk as well as the others in the mass media, I’m OK with that."

After the polls closed and the few supporters trickled out of Gilmore’s watch party, the former governor settled down with a plate of spaghetti at the bar. He said he and his team will now assess if he can reasonably succeed "with the current political process in place."

But, as of Tuesday night, Gilmore said his plan is to be in South Carolina on Wednesday morning.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Trisha Thadani on Twitter: @TrishaThadani