--- title: Bernie Sanders: New Hampshire Could Prove Key to Campaign description: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination is growing at a breakneck pace in New Hampshire. canonical: https://time.com/4024573/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-08T03:40:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:45.762Z article:section: Politics og:title: How Bernie Sanders Is Winning New Hampshire og:description: The second early voting state proves key to his campaign. og:url: https://time.com/4024573/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d6d0a7523754017/6988627a8e06010f2a46238b/487233236.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Presidential Candidates Attend NH Labor Day Parade og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Bernie Sanders Is Winning New Hampshire twitter:description: The second early voting state proves key to his campaign. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d6d0a7523754017/6988627a8e06010f2a46238b/487233236.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Bernie Sanders Is Winning New Hampshire ## Video: Hillary Clinton's Top 10 Political Moments [Watch (HLS stream): Hillary Clinton's Top 10 Political Moments](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/L3I0gpwt.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2015-04-09. Watch the top 10 moments from Hillary Clinton's career in politics._ by [Sam Frizell / Concord, New Hampshire](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell / Concord, New Hampshire Sep 8, 2015 3:40 AM UTC  Bernie Sanders greets supporters at the Labor Day Parade in Milford, N.H., on Sept. 7, 2015 Bernie Sanders greets supporters at the Labor Day Parade in Milford, N.H., on Sept. 7, 2015Kayana Szymczak—Getty Images by [Sam Frizell / Concord, New Hampshire](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell / Concord, New Hampshire Sep 8, 2015 3:40 AM UTC A drab office squeezed between a pawn shop and a dance studio in small-town New Hampshire seems an unlikely place to begin a political revolution, but for Bernie Sanders, a strip mall that had seen better days worked just fine. “Welcome, all, to the political revolution,” Sanders said to a crowd of more than 100 people baking in the summer sun near Concord on Monday. “You all know New Hampshire plays a unique role in the American political process. We’re going to do well in Iowa, and if we do well here in New Hampshire—between you and me—they ain’t gonna stop us.” It was the grand opening of the Bernie Sanders campaign office in Concord, the capital of a state that could decide the fate of Sanders’ presidential campaign. As part of the campaign’s rapid expansion in New Hampshire, Sanders had come here to say his movement’s goals—such as universal healthcare, a $15 minimum wage and paid sick leave—were attainable. “I’m not advocating for pie in the sky,” Sanders said. There was cake, however. The next day was the upstart Democratic candidate’s birthday, and the crowd surprised him with a birthday cake and a round of “Happy Birthday to You.” “I’m cutting the first slice here,” Sanders said to cheers. Sanders’ campaign is growing at a breakneck pace in New Hampshire as his new staff struggles to catch up to his popularity in the state. Drawn by Sanders’ message of economic fairness and calls for campaign finance reform, support has swollen for the Vermont senator in the last two months. In early August, Sanders had just four paid staff members in New Hampshire; the campaign now has 37\. The campaign has five offices as of Monday, but by the end of the week, there will be eight offices where volunteers can come phone bank, learn canvassing tips and get organized. Recent polls show the Vermont senator with a sizable lead in the state over Hillary Clinton, who is still the presumptive frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. An [NBC/Marist poll published Sunday](http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/bernie-sanders-leads-hillary-clinton-9-n-h-gains-iowa-n422111) showed Sanders with a nine-point edge over Clinton, mustering support of 41% of Democratic voters in New Hampshire compared with 32% for Clinton. ### See the 2016 Candidates Looking Very Presidential  Sen. Ted Cruz is surrounded by stars and stripes at the 2014 Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. on September 26, 2014. Mark Peterson—Redux  Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton gazes pensively into the distance at Iowa Senator Tom Harken'a annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa on September 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis for TIME  Jeb Bush Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush flashes a power watch before giving his keynote address at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington on Nov. 20, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Bernie Sanders waves to supporters after officially announcing his candidacy for the U.S. presidency during an event at Waterfront Park in Burlington, Vermont, on May 26, 2015. Win McNamee—Getty Images  Chris Christie New Jersey Governor Chris Christie strikes a presidential power stance at the ceremony for the opening of the 206 bypass in Hillsborough, New Jersey on October 28, 2013. Mark Peterson—Redux  Former Hewlett-Packard Co Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina listens to her introduction from the side of the stage at the Freedom Summit in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 24, 2015. Jim Young—Reuters  Rand Paul Sen. Rand Paul works a crowd during a campaign stop on October 24, 2014 in McDonough, Georgia. Jessica McGowan—Getty Images  Rick Perry Texas Gov. Rick Perry looks powerfully patriotic during the National Anthem before an NCAA college football game on Nov. 27, 2014, in College Station, Texas. David J. Phillip—AP  Bobby Jindal Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal looks to the future during The Family Leadership Summit on Aug. 9, 2014, in Ames, Iowa. Charlie Neibergall—AP  Martin O'Malley Maryland Governor Martin OíMalley ponders decorating ideas in front of his possible future home on CBS's Face the Nation on Feb. 23, 2014. Chris Usher—AP  Marco Rubio Sen. Marco Rubio looks determined the morning after the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. on January 29, 2014. Melissa Golden—Redux  Ben CarsonBen Carson at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference on March 8, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Jim Webb Retiring Sen. Jim Webb imitates the presidential wave during a rally in Virginia Beach, Va. on Sept. 27, 2012. Steve Helber—AP  John Kasich Ohio Gov. John Kasich practices his presidential victory pose at the Ohio Republican Party celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in Columbus, Ohio. Tony Dejak—AP  Rick Santorum Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum looks resolute at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 7, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Scott Walker Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker practices the presidential point on March 3, 2014 in Milwaukee. Jeffrey Phelps—AP  Mike Huckabee Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee fine-tunes his presidential oratory at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in National Harbor, Md. on March 7, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Lincoln Chafee, Former Rhode Island Governor, poses for a selfie with a student after announcing he will seek the Democratic nomination for president in Arlington, Va. on June 3, 2015. Jonathan Ernst—Reuters  Lindsey Graham Lindsey Graham announced his plans to join the 2016 presidential race. Alex Wong—Getty Images  George Pataki Former New York governor George Pataki listens to a question at the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Conference in Nashua, New Hampshire, in this April 17, 2015 file photo. Brian Snyder—Reuters The second contest of the Democratic primary, New Hampshire will be a crucial proving ground for the Vermont senator. If he performs well in the state, he’ll have enough momentum to continue his campaign. But if Sanders loses so close to his home state, it could lead to a premature end. New Hampshire, however, has long been an undependable ally to contrarian presidential contenders, boosting Democratic upstarts like Sanders early only to ultimately choose establishment candidates. In 1999, then-Sen. Bill Bradley, edged out Al Gore in early polls but eventually lost the state. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean polled consistently ahead in 2003, but lost by a wide margin to John Kerry. Much of Sanders’ support in the New Hampshire is a byproduct of his long career in nearby Vermont, where he began as mayor of the city of Burlington. Politics in New England seep through porous borders, and Sanders was well-known in New Hampshire long before he began his campaign. Sanders has also campaigned hard in New Hampshire, visiting the state for multi-day swings at least three times since the beginning of August. On Monday, he completed a whirlwind tour at the southern end of the state, beginning at an AFL-CIO labor breakfast in Manchester before heading to a parade in Milford forty minutes south. There, Sanders led hundreds of supporters, outnumbering Hillary Clinton’s cohort by several times, with his crowd chanting “Hey hey, ho ho, corporate greed has got to go.” **MORE:** [_Bernie Sanders Hosts Biggest Organizing Event of 2016 So Far_](http://time.com/3976557/bernie-sanders-house-party/) From there Sanders visited the a Labor Day barbecue in Amherst before heading back north to Concord to open up the campaign office and cut his cake. Throughout the day, Sanders repeated variations of his stump speech, calling for a $15 minimum wage, a single-payer healthcare system, paid family leave and sick leave for all American workers, higher taxes on the wealthy and aggressive action on climate change. The campaign Sanders is building on the ground in New Hampshire is playing catchup with the spontaneous organizing supporters are already doing. Staff who have come on in New Hampshire say that the energy for Sanders is already there, the question is how to harness it. “The biggest challenge is putting infrastructure together fast enough to support what these people are doing,” said Julia Barnes, state director for Sanders in New Hampshire. “We’re still growing rapidly because we need the infrastructure to process and utilize the volunteers.” Many volunteers complain they’ve done organizing on their own, including knocking door-to-door, calling around their neighborhoods and handing out flyers. The paid staff of the Sanders campaign now has to harness the energy and turn it into votes. Much of the organizing for Sanders begins online. Reddit forums, Facebook groups and avid tweeters have directed dollars and web traffic to Sanders. **MORE:** [_Here’s What the Bernie Sanders Cocktail Tastes Like_](http://time.com/3978957/bernie-sanders-paloma-cocktail/) The campaign infrastructure is being fueled by donations from over 250,000 individual donors, as of the end of the last quarter in late June. The campaign is turning the unexpected influx of money into a hardy organizing infrastructure in the early states and looking for ways to expand its physical footprint beyond Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Many key voices in the state have swung to Sanders, with supporters in the audience including the chair of the Sierra Club in New Hampshire sat in the audience, along with current and former state representatives and union officials. Clinton’s campaign has 36 field organizers in New Hampshire and is paying them with larger donations from a fuller war chest. Even if he is still a clear underdog to win the Democratic nomination, the summer seems to have paid off for Sanders in New Hampshire. At the beginning of June, polling averages had Sanders at around 15% compared with 50% for Clinton. He now consistently leads her by at least six or seven percentage points. Many Sanders supporters in New Hampshire are newcomers to politics. Johanna Houman, a grandmother of seven, has never volunteered for a politician before but spends much of her days maintaining a Facebook group for Sanders and handing out flyers. Alayna Josz, a manicurist in a nail salon, paints Bernie themes for free on customers’ nails and volunteers when she’s not at work. “He has started a conversation with all of us that we are not going to be quiet about,” Josz says. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4024573/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4024573/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire/"},"headline":"How Bernie Sanders Is Winning New Hampshire","datePublished":"2015-09-08T03:40:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:45.762Z","description":"He's ahead in the polls as his campaign grows in the early voting state","url":"https://time.com/4024573/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire/","keywords":["Bernie Sanders","2016 Election topic","new hampshire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d6d0a7523754017/6988627a8e06010f2a46238b/487233236.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell / Concord, New Hampshire"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d6d0a7523754017/6988627a8e06010f2a46238b/487233236.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Presidential Candidates Attend NH Labor Day Parade","caption":"Presidential Candidates Attend NH Labor Day Parade","creditText":"Kayana Szymczak—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/bernie-sanders/","name":"Bernie Sanders"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4024573/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire/","name":"How Bernie Sanders Is Winning New Hampshire"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Hillary Clinton's Top 10 Political Moments","description":"Watch the top 10 moments from Hillary Clinton's career in politics.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/L3I0gpwt/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-04-09T19:18:36.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/L3I0gpwt.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4024573/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire/","duration":"PT1M49S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4024573/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```