NASHUA – The robust battle for the Democratic presidential nomination that fueled a higher-than-usual turnout statewide carried over into Nashua, where voters gave Bernie Sanders the edge over second-place Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, whose 11th-hour surge gave her a strong third-place finish.

Overall, 24,369, or 41.3 percent, of Nashua’s roughly 59,000 registered voters cast ballots over the course of 14 hours Tuesday, reflecting the popular interest in the multi-candidate race that grew fast and furious over the past several days.

“We are so excited, we are going to take this show on the road with all of this New Hampshire good will. The best is yet to come,” a beaming Klobuchar told reporters as the numbers came in Tuesday night.

As the final votes were counted, Sanders clung to a roughly 4,000 vote, or 2.2%, lead over Buttigieg, while Klobuchar held a tight grip on third place with a 10% lead over Elizabeth Warren.

Joe Biden, meanwhile. continued his slide, trailing Warren by nearly 3,000 votes.

On the Republican side in Nashua, President Donald Trump, as expected, garnered 5,900 votes on his way to easy victory over former Mass. Gov. Bill Weld, who managed 722 votes.

Coming in a fairly surprisng sixth place statewide was Tom Steyer, who held a roughly 700 vote, or 0.5%, lead over Tulsi Gabbard as the final votes were counted.

Andrew Yang, who trailed Gabbard, and Michael Bennet both ended their campaigns Tuesday night.

In Nashua, Buttigieg finished even closer to Sanders than in the statewide race, coming in with roughly 4,300 votes to Sanders’s 4,860. Klobuchar garnered nearly 3,200 votes in Nashua.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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