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Sen. Amy Klobuchar Finishes Third In New Hampshire Primary

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar finished in third in Tuesday's New Hampshire -- her best showing since entering the presidential race.

Sen. Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primary with a slight edge over Pete Buttigieg. But not far behind was Sen. Klobuchar. It was a third-place finish -- but a big political win.

Klobuchar began her campaign outdoors in a Minnesota snowstorm one year ago. She then rode a "Klobo-surge" to the polls in New Hampshire.

Exit polls showed six out of 10 Democrats [62%] want a candidate who can beat President Donald Trump. Eighty-one percent said they're "angry" about the Trump administration. And almost half [48%] made up their minds in the last few days.

Amy Klobuchar New Hampshire Primary 1
(credit: CBS)

That may have helped Klobuchar, who turned in a strong debate performance Friday night, which 48% of voters said was an important factor in their decision.

Democratic strategist and lawyer Abou Amara says Klobuchar's finish will catapult her campaign to the next round of contests, including Super Tuesday on March 3.

"Diminishing resources are going to be a problem. The fact that you have multiple, 10, 15 states on Super Tuesday," Amara said. "If you don't catch momentum now, you might not have the resources or the people on the ground to be able to win long term."

Klobuchar easily defeated fourth place Elizabeth Warren, and Joe Biden was a distant fifth.

WCCO confirmed Tuesday evening that Klobuchar is expanding her campaign staff across the country to compete in states leading up to Super Tuesday.

President Trump easily won Republican primary with no real opposition. He lost New Hampshire in 2016 by a few thousand votes.

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