John Kerry celebrates his victory in New Hampshire. (Photo: Suzanne Freeman)

Tuesday, January 27—A record number of New Hampshire voters turned out to give Senator John Kerry a big victory here tonight. With 95 percent of a total of 200,000 votes counted, Kerry had a solid lead of about 39 percent in his bid for the Democratic nomination for President. Howard Dean, who was the front-runner in New Hampshire popularity polls two weeks ago, trailed with 26 percent of the vote.

"Kerry's win in New Hampshire is very important because he had a great victory in Iowa and he came to New Hampshire, where he was an underdog—almost 20 points behind, maybe more—and won," Manchester Mayor Bob Baines told Scholastic News Online. "He showed he's a fighter, that he's determined and I think he's going to be a great President."

Click the pictures to read more about Katelyn Lemay and Mary Buchanan.

The big battle in New Hampshire was for third place between retired General Wesley Clark and Senator John Edwards. They tied for third with about 12 percent of the vote each. Clark had a slight lead of about 1,000 votes.

Senator Joe Lieberman, who rented an apartment in New Hampshire months before the election, was fifth with 9 percent of the vote, while Congressman Dennis Kucinich picked up only about 1 percent of the vote.

Scholastic Student Reporters interview Manchester Mayor Bob Baines. (Photo: Suzanne Freeman)

The seven presidential hopefuls will now take their campaigns to the rest of the nation, where they will have less one-on-one contact with the voters. Campaigning will focus more on TV ads and large rallies as the candidates try to cover more ground in less time.

"I love New Hampshire!" Kerry told his cheering supporters at his election night party in Manchester. "And I love Iowa, too. And I hope with your help to have the blessings and the opportunity to love a lot of other states in the days to come."

The next big day in the 2004 primary elections is just a week away. Seven states will vote in primaries on Tuesday, February 3. All eyes will be on South Carolina, a state with a lot of influence. Edwards, who is from North Carolina, is expected to do better in the Southern states.

Other states voting next Tuesday are Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and North Dakota.

At the Holiday Inn in Manchester tonight, the excitement was all about Kerry. He held his victory party in the hotel that also housed all the media organizations gathered in New Hampshire to cover the primaries. When Kerry came out on stage, hundreds of cameras were pointed at him. The already joyful crowd exploded in cheers.

"You stayed the course in New Hampshire and because of you this has been a successful and happy campaign," he told his supporters. "We will begin tonight to take this fight to the rest of the country."