Decision day in New Hampshire

Presidential candidates in New Hampshire this week insisted today’s primary vote was up for grabs, but polls continue to show Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have the state locked down.

For the Republicans, the latest average of polls show Trump with 31 percent of the primary vote—more than twice the support of his closest competitor, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who has 14 percent.

Late Monday, Trump performed perhaps his most ostentatious verbal stunt yet when he repeated an audience member’s vulgar slur against opponent Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who wrenched the Iowa caucuses from the billionaire businessman last week with a four-point win and is in third place (12 percent) in New Hampshire polling.

During a speech in Manchester, N.H., Trump criticized Cruz for not firmly supporting waterboarding of enemy combatants during Saturday’s GOP debate. An audience member yelled out the profanity, and Trump repeated it to the audience, purportedly because they could not hear her.

So far, Trump’s personal putdowns haven’t cost him much voter support. He called Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a “loser” last summer for getting captured in Vietnam, and he used a crude Yiddish sexual term when he described Hillary Clinton losing the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama in 2008.

Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler responded to Trump’s attack via email, saying, “Let’s not forget who whipped who in Iowa.”

Coming off of a strong showing in the Iowa caucuses, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., owns a double-digit lead over Clinton in recent New Hampshire polling of Democratic voters. The latest average places the self-avowed democratic-socialist at 55 percent and the former secretary of state at 41 percent. But Clinton said Monday she still likes her chances. She made a last-minute appeal to young voters in the state, saying “I thank you for being part of the process, for understanding the importance of getting involved in the politics of America if you want the future that you deserve.”

A handful of small New Hampshire communities opened their voting just after midnight. Sanders won 60 percent of those early Democratic returns (17 votes) to Clinton’s 32 percent (nine votes). On the Republican side, Ohio Gov. John Kasich had a strong showing, tying Trump and Cruz for first place with 24 percent (nine votes) each.

Follow coverage of today’s New Hampshire primary at WORLD’s Election Center, which includes an interactive map, real-time voting results, and links to WORLD’s latest campaign coverage.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.