How many delegates does New Hampshire have for the 2024 primary and how are they awarded?

Trump has wide lead over Haley in New Hampshire, polls show

Washington — The 2024 New Hampshire primary on Tuesday had just two Republican candidates competing for the state's relatively small yet influential pool of GOP delegates.

While the number of delegates at stake in New Hampshire might pale in comparison to larger states, the results will influence the shape of the race for the GOP nomination going forward.

CBS News projected that former President Donald Trump beat former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Democrats technically had a primary, too, but President Biden wasn't on the ballot because of a dispute between the party and the state over the date of that primary. The Biden campaign instead urged Democratic voters to write-in the president's name.

How many GOP primary delegates were at stake in New Hampshire?

Republicans had 22 delegates to the Republican National Convention up for grabs in the Granite State on Tuesday. A candidate needs 1,215 delegates to capture the nomination.

New Hampshire's delegates were critical for Haley in particular, since she is the last candidate standing against Trump.

Haley came in third place in the Iowa caucuses behind Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has since dropped out of the race.

Haley has argued that she is the strongest candidate to compete against Mr. Biden in November.

While Republican voters think Trump has the best chance of beating the president, head-to-head CBS News polling from earlier this month showed Haley leading Mr. Biden by the widest margin.

Haley kicked off primary day with an early victory just after midnight, when she won all six votes in Dixville Notch, a small town that casts the first votes of the New Hampshire primary as part of a decades-long tradition.

Supporters react as former president Donald Trump makes a campaign stop at the Manchester Trump campaign office in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Jan. 21, 2024. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Are New Hampshire's delegates winner-take-all?

The major parties' presidential nominations are ultimately chosen by delegates at the party conventions in the summer. Each state party chooses how it awards its delegates differently, but they are typically reflective of the result of the state's primary or caucus. Some states award all the delegates to the candidate who comes in first, while others award them proportionally based on the percentage of the vote each candidate wins.

New Hampshire is not a winner-take-all state. Instead, any candidate who receives over 10% of a statewide primary vote will be awarded delegates, so Haley is likely to receive some delegates. Above the 10% threshold, delegates are awarded proportionally. 

The GOP nomination will be formally decided at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where delegates will gather from July 15 to July 18. The candidate with the majority of delegates will be declared the party's nominee.

How many delegates were at stake for the Democrats?

Last year, the Democratic Party moved to shake up its primary calendar and allow South Carolina to hold the first primary. New Hampshire Democrats said moving the date of their primary would require a new state law and couldn't be done in time.

The Democratic National Committee said the state violated the party's rules by holding its contest earlier than allowed, and thus none of the state's delegates were up for grabs. Mr. Biden also protested the primary date and withheld his name from the ballot, so anyone who wanted to vote for the commander in chief had to do so with a write-in vote. 

Democratic candidates like Rep. Dean Phillips and self-help author Marianne Williamson were be on the ballot Tuesday, but Mr. Biden still won. The party could ultimately decide to seat New Hampshire's delegates at the convention this summer but as of now, none will be awarded based on Tuesday's Democratic primary.

In 2020, New Hampshire Democrats allotted 24 pledged delegates. 

What is the current Republican primary delegate count?

Only one other state has held a primary contest so far — Iowa. The Hawkeye State held its caucuses last week, and Trump won more than half of the votes.

Thirty-eight delegates were up for grabs in Iowa. Based on the result, CBS News estimates that Trump is in the lead with 20 delegates, followed by DeSantis with eight and Haley with seven:

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