New Hampshire is proud of a saying that goes like this: “Always First, Always Right.”
Well, yes and no.
The Granite State does indeed hold the nation’s first presidential primary. It’s been a tradition since 1952, when the names of the candidates first began appearing on the ballot.
But always right? That assumes the winner of the New Hampshire primary goes on to win the nomination. The record on that is decidedly mixed.
Here’s the list of competitive Democratic presidential primaries going back to ’52: who won, and who won the nomination (* indicates elected president).
“ALWAYS RIGHT”
1976 — Jimmy Carter*
1980 — Carter
1988 — Michael Dukakis
2000 — Al Gore
2004 — John Kerry
“WRONG”
1952 — primary winner: Estes Kefauver; nominee: Adlai Stevenson
1968 — Lyndon Johnson; Hubert Humphrey
1972 — Ed Muskie; George McGovern
1984 — Gary Hart; Walter Mondale
1992 — Paul Tsongas; Bill Clinton*
2008 — Hillary Clinton; Barack Obama*
2016 — Bernie Sanders; Hillary Clinton