Democratic presidential hopeful Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders speaks at a Primary Night event at the SNHU Field House in Manchester, New Hampshire on February 11, 2020. Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images

Bernie Sanders will win Tuesday's New Hampshire Democratic primary, NBC News projected, setting him up near the top of a fractured presidential field. The Vermont senator will edge out former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota will come in third, according to NBC. As of the latest results Wednesday afternoon, with 99% of precincts reporting, Sanders had nearly 26% of the vote, while Buttigieg had more than 24%. The difference was about 4,000 votes. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Vice President Joe Biden were vying for fourth place as final results came in. Neither candidate will reach the 15% threshold needed to win pledged delegates, statewide and in both of its congressional districts. The victory gives Sanders an early boost in the push for the Democratic presidential nomination after he left the Iowa caucuses with the second-most pledged national delegates in the field. The process now enters a series of generally larger, more diverse states, where the Vermont senator has outperformed Buttigieg and Klobuchar in polls. "Let me say tonight that this victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump," he told supporters as news outlets started to project his victory.

Sanders and Buttigieg are expected to be awarded the same share of New Hampshire's 24 delegates: nine each, according to NBC News. Klobuchar is projected to win six. Both Buttigieg and Klobuchar appeared to perform well with late-deciding voters. "Thanks to you, a campaign that some said shouldn't be here at all has showed that we are here to stay," Buttigieg told supporters Tuesday night. The first-in-the-nation primary is a key proving ground for candidates in the field hoping to take on President Donald Trump, which was 11 people strong entering Tuesday. Buttigieg left the nation's first nominating contest, the Iowa caucuses, with the most pledged national delegates. Sanders followed closely behind him. The early nominating contests have typically narrowed the primary field. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang became the first candidate to suspend his campaign after the New Hampshire results started coming in Tuesday night, followed by Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado. They found themselves well behind the primary leaders as data trickled in. In speaking to supporters Tuesday night, several candidates argued they had the best shot to deny the president a second term. Klobuchar started her remarks by saying, "I'm Amy Klobuchar, and I will beat Donald Trump." Warren, despite a poor performance in the state that neighbors her home of Massachusetts, cast herself as "a nominee that the broadest coalition of our party feels they can get behind."