Did Donald Trump Win Record Number of Votes in New Hampshire?

Former President Donald Trump’s win in the New Hampshire Republican primary on Tuesday has energized his 2024 White House race, winning by 54.4 percent to Nikki Haley’s 43.3 percent, according to the Associated Press.

It follows on from his overwhelming Iowa caucus win on January 15. After the Iowa result, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who polling showed had been Trump’s closest rival for most of the GOP race, dropped out and endorsed the former president.

Celebrating his latest victory, the former president took to his Truth Social account claiming that his win was also a historic record for presidential primary candidates in New Hampshire.

The Claim

A post on Truth Social by Donald Trump, on January 24, 2024, said “SUCH AN HONOR: I JUST BROKE THE ALL-TIME RECORD FOR VOTES CAST – BOTH SIDES, DEMOCRAT AND REPUBLICAN – IN THE HISTORY OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY!”

The Facts

While Trump’s win in New Hampshire is verifiably accurate, his record of election falsehoods is well established.

Although Trump continues to make inaccurate claims about other contests, including the Iowa caucuses, his claim to have broken all time voting records for New Hampshire presidential primary candidates is correct.

To verify Trump’s statement, Newsweek assessed all presidential primaries from 1952 to 2024, using records from the New Hampshire Department of State, the Federal Election Commission and Associated Press.

While New Hampshire has held primaries since 1916, it was not until 1952 that voters got to vote directly for presidential candidates.

As of time of publication, according to the Associated Press, Trump has won 172,479 votes in the New Hampshire primary.

That puts Trump more than 100,000 votes ahead of the previous record holder, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who won 152,193 votes in the 2016 Democratic primary.

Trump won the Republican primary in New Hampshire in 2020 and 2016 too, increasing his total vote count each time.

In fact, having won 129,734 votes in the 2020 primary, Trump can now claim to have two of the three highest winning vote counts in New Hampshire presidential primary contests.

Short of a major recount, which does not appear to be forthcoming, it seems that Trump’s new election record won’t slip until at least the next primary in 2028.

The Ruling

True.

Donald Trump’s claim is accurate. As of time of publication, Trump has won more than 172,000 votes, more than any other presidential primary candidate in New Hampshire since the state began direct voting for candidates.

The previous record holder, Bernie Sanders, won 152,193 votes in the 2016 Democratic primary.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team