Exit polls: New Hampshire Democrats trust Sanders

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire Democratic primary after convincing voters he is more honest and trustworthy than Hillary Clinton, pointing to a potential liability for the former secretary of state as the race for president moves to Nevada and South Carolina, according to exit poll results.

Sanders also won big among young voters, including young women, according to the polls conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump, meanwhile, was propelled to victory in the state's Republican primary by voters who wanted an outsider and someone who "tells it like it is."

Clinton, who has faced scrutiny of her emails while secretary of state and congressional inquiries into her handling of an attack on an American diplomatic compound in Libya, struggled similarly last week in Iowa's caucuses among people who said that honesty was an important issue to them.

A third of Democratic voters valued honesty, more than said they wanted a candidate with experience, one who cares about people like them, or who preferred someone who could win in November.

About 4 in 10 voters in both the Democratic and Republican primaries said they identify as independents, and their support made a big difference on the Democratic side.

Even though less than 2 in 10 Republican voters who said immigration is their most important issue — fewer than said so of the economy, government spending or terrorism— half of them supported Trump.

The survey was conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks by Edison Research as voters left their polling places at 44 randomly selected sites in New Hampshire.

Preliminary results include interviews with 2,215 Democratic primary voters and 2,012 Republican primary voters and have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.