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Candidates still in New Hampshire; voters still deciding

David Jackson and Chrissie Thompson
USA TODAY
Supporters of many of the presidential candidates hold signs outside the polling place at the Webster School on Feb. 9, 2016 in Manchester, N.H.

NASHUA, N.H. — As New Hampshire voters flocked to the polls for the first-in-the-nation primary Tuesday, some were still making up their minds who to vote for.

“I have no clue yet,” said Kevin Blais, who owns a landscape and construction company. Blais, 45, stood at a polling place in Nashua and said he’d choose between Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton “when I get in and look at the paper.”

Stephanie McNeil, a teacher who had considered Republicans Marco Rubio, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, ended up voting for Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor.

“He has the most experience – because I am literally torn,” she said.

McNeil, 41, decided not to support Rubio after Saturday’s debate, in which he was hammered by Chris Christie for not having executive experience.

“He has no experience,” McNeil said. “He hasn’t done anything.”

New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary began in the middle of the night, with residents in tiny towns casting their traditional first ballots just after midnight.

Sanders swept Clinton in Dixville Notch, 4-0, while John Kasich topped Donald Trump, 3 votes to 2. In nearby Millsfield, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the Republican vote over Trump, 9-3. Several other candidates got one vote apiece. Clinton beat Sanders, 2 votes to 1.

In Hart’s Location, population 43, Kasich bested Trump again, 5 votes to 4, with Christie gathering 2 votes. Bush, Ben Carson and Marco Rubio got one vote each. Sanders edged Clinton, 12 votes to 7.

Kasich, one of several candidates looking for at least a second-place finish in the Granite State, said he was "calm" as he approached the primary. "I can't explain it other than we've done everything we need to do here and it's in the hands of the voters," he told MSNBC's Morning Joe.

Registered voters wait to cast their ballots vote in the small village of Dixville Notch moments after midnight in the New Hampshire primary.

The candidates hit polling places, television studios, the Internet, and social media in last-minute bids for votes. Tweeted Bush: "Closing my time in New Hampshire the same way I began: giving it my all, speaking to every voter and being true to what I believe."

Heading into the primary, Trump's language continued to make news: the candidate who has said he would bomb the (bleep) out of the Islamic State echoed a vulgarity Monday night toward Ted Cruz. During a rally, as Trump discussed Cruz's reluctance to endorse waterboarding, a woman in the crowed shouted "he's a p---y!" using a synonym for "wimp."

Trump then scolded the woman — playfully.

"You’re not allowed to say, and I never expect to hear that from you again,” he said. “She said he’s a p---y.”

The crowd laughed and cheered.

Asked about the incident, Trump told NBC News he would act differently if he is elected.

"When you're president, or if you're about to be president, you would act differently," he said.

During a campaign stop at a diner on Tuesday, Cruz told reporters that no one should be surprised at anything Trump says. Referring to his win in Iowa, Cruz said that "Donald does not handle losing very well."

In Manchester, supporters for Rubio got into a scuffle with a protester dressed as a robot — an apparent reference to Rubio's tendency to repeat sound bites. CBS News reported the protester was joined by another man dressed as a robot whose costume read “Rubio Talking Point 3000.”

Inside the gym at Nashua's Ledge Street Elementary, Sharon Zayas, a 53-year-old relocation coordinator for a moving company, registered to vote for the first time in her life.

"The older I get the more important I feel things are," said Zayas. "I have two grandchildren and I'm worried about their futures."

Outside Bedford High School, a group of teens visiting from Mamaroneck, N.Y., cheered for Rubio as a light snow fell.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Caroline Scudder, a history teacher who was chaperoning the group. “They can see what politics actually looks like, as opposed to reading out of a textbook.”

The students have been canvassing, phone banking and going to Rubio rallies since Saturday.

“It’s an eye-opening experience,” Harrison Eisberg, 18, said. “You really see how you can make a difference in a campaign.”

Clinton was up early Tuesday — around 6:45 a.m., she and daughter Chelsea Clinton greeted volunteers at a polling station at Parker Varney School.

"As I've said over the past couple days, we're going to keep working literally until the last vote is cast and counted and we're going to go from there," she told NBC News.

At a later stop at a polling station in Derry, Clinton ran into Carly Fiorina’s husband, Frank.

"Do you remember me?" he asked.

"I sure do!" Clinton said. "Good for you for being out here." They shook hands and made small talk between dueling Carly and Hillary signs.

Hillary Clinton poses for a picture with Frank Fiorina outside of a polling station at Gilbert H. Hood Middle School on Feb. 9, 2016 in Derry, N.H.

She asked how he was coping with the frigid weather. "I didn't wear the right shoes, but other than that I'm doing fine," he said.

"It is such an amazing, wonderful part of democracy," Clinton said.

"It is, look at these folks all out here, it's amazing," he said.

They posed for a photo before Clinton made her way back to her motorcade.

Fiorina has attacked Clinton as she sought to distinguish herself in a crowded field of male Republican candidates. In a January debate, Fiorina said that unlike Clinton, she actually likes spending time with her husband. She later added that Clinton would do “anything to gain and hold onto power … if my husband did what Bill Clinton did, I would have left him a long time ago.”

In Durham, University of New Hampshire zoology major Kayleigh Kane, 21, said had been “pumped” to vote for Clinton, but after researching Sanders she changed her mind. Kane says she appreciates how Sanders has been funding his campaign with smaller contributions.

“I think a lot of people are writing the millennial demographic off because we want free handouts, but college supports critical thinking and a free mind,” she said, arguing that young people are more skeptical of Clinton.

Primary day was briefly disrupted by pork-barrel politics. A 600-pound pig wandered off a farm into the parking lot at Pelham High School where voters were trying to vote. Local police found the owner who corralled the animal and restored the democratic process in Pelham.

Contributing: Heidi Przybyla; Ethan Cohen and Alex Duner, special for USA TODAY. Chrissie Thompson reports for the Cincinnati Enquirer.

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