NJ Governor And GOP Presidential Candidate Chris Christie Campaigns On NH Primary Day
Gov. Christie Christie arrives at a polling place in Manchester, NH on primary day. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
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The most unpredictable and unconventional presidential race in my lifetime saw Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders come up with big wins in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday and left New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to seriously ponder his next move.

As expected Trump scored a big win on the Republican side, grabbing 35% of the vote which was more than twice that of runner-up John Kasich with the Ohio governor’s finish keeping him very much in the race. Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush & Marco Rubio were bunched tightly and rounded out the top five with a disappointed Christie in 6th place with just 8% of the vote in a state where he spent a lot of time and effort.

By falling out of the top five he will not be part of the next debate and with the South Carolina primary only ten days away Christie has decided to return to New Jersey to take a careful look at his next step. It would appear that will likely lead to his withdrawal from the race but as wild as this primary season is on the GOP side you never know. Trump meanwhile takes a lot of momentum to South Carolina where early polls had him well ahead of Cruz.

On the Democratic side Sanders scored an impressive win which will clearly raise some doubts in the camp of Hillary Clinton, who months ago appeared to be a shoe-in for the nomination. The 74-year old senator from nearby Vermont collected 60% of the vote in New Hampshire to 38% for Clinton and for those who like history became the first Jewish candidate to ever win a primary.

Sanders' anti-establishment message has clearly resonated with young voters but he faces an uphill battle in South Carolina where Clinton has a huge lead. Regardless his emergence as a serious candidate means this will not be a walk in the park for Clinton who will likely need to spend a lot of money which she hoped to bank for the November general election.

The next few weeks promise to be very interesting leading up to March 1st which is “Super Tuesday” when 13 states hold their primaries or caucuses. As if this presidential election isn’t wild enough there is the possibility that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg may enter the race as a third-party candidate.

And you thought you had to buy a ticket to see the circus.

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