The results from primaries across the country were still coming in on the nearby television, but Tuesday evening, state Sen. Donna Soucy raised her glass.
“It’s a historic night,” said Soucy, a Manchester Democrat.
Around her, in a Manchester living room, a group of fellow supporters of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton listened to her toast.
“For me, personally, as a woman, as a state senator, this is historic,” she said. “I think it’s historic everywhere, really, to see there is nothing a woman can’t do.”
In February, Clinton suffered a landslide defeat to Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire, earning just 39 percent of the vote to his 60 percent. The loss stung for her supporters here, where a surprise win in 2008 buoyed her unsuccessful campaign against then-Sen. Barack Obama. Eight years ago Tuesday, in fact, Clinton conceded to Obama and began to rally her voters to him.
But this time around, the Associated Press called the race for Clinton by Monday night, reporting she had commitments from enough delegates to secure the nomination. On Tuesday night, she added to that count with wins in states like New Jersey and claimed victory in the Democratic race.
But Clinton backers have a long road to swaying Sanders’s supporters and uniting the Democratic Party against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Terry Shumaker, a longtime friend of the Clintons, remembered this feeling from eight years ago.
“Core supporters of every candidate, it takes them a while to move on,” he said. “It certainly did for many of Hillary’s supporters in 2008.”
Sanders and Clinton hold a number of the same beliefs at the core of their policies, said former state representative Richard Komi, a Clinton supporter who will travel to Philadelphia in July as Manchester’s delegate in the Democratic convention. Komi was among the Clinton supporters gathered Tuesday night.
“I think what the Hillary campaign needs to do now is lay out her vision for the country – a vision that is all-inclusive, across the board,” he said. “A vision that takes care of Democrats, independents and Republicans.”
However, on Tuesday afternoon, former Sanders political director Kurt Ehrenberg said he thinks it’s premature to declare a nominee. He was holding onto hope that superdelegates – party officials who can support candidates of their choosing – will cast their votes for the Vermont senator.
“I think our superdelegates should reconsider their planned vote,” he said. It should reflect the vote of the constituents. That’s a true democracy.”
Delegates will officially choose the nominee at the party’s convention in late July. Sanders earned 15 of New Hampshire’s pledged delegates in February’s vote, while Clinton only collected nine. But the former secretary of state has deep-seated support from New Hampshire’s top Democrats, which has given her an advantage among superdelegates.
Including U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Gov. Maggie Hassan, six of New Hamsphire’s eight superdelegates endorsed the former secretary of state before February voting. Despite her loss in the state’s primary, all six have continued to support her. Ray Buckley, the chairman of the state’s Democratic Party, is also a superdelegate, but he is required to remain neutral.
Only last week did one of New Hampshire’s superdelegates announce her support for Sanders. On her Facebook page, state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark of Portsmouth threw her weight behind the Vermont senator. She added she would support Clinton if she is the nominee, however.
“It has been exhilarating to see so many young people become enthusiastic with Senator Sanders’ campaign,” Fuller Clark wrote in her post Thursday. “I will work hard to include his progressive agenda in our Democratic platform regardless who wins the nomination.”
Fuller Clark did not return a request for comment Tuesday afternoon about her plans to support Sanders.
It is young voters who may be the deciding factor of the general election, said Dante Scala, associate professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire.
“I do think there needs to be some effort by the Clinton campaign toward the younger, more independent voters,” he said. “It’s about getting them out to vote.
Looking forward to the general election, Scala said building off negative reactions to Trump’s personality and temperament will be key.
“I think Trump’s already doing a good job of that on his own, fortunately for the Clinton campaign,” he said.
State Rep. Steve Shurtleff of Penacook said his support for Clinton stems from her experience in politics.
“I’ve got to put the best interest of my country and my state over partisan politics and pick the president who best leads the country over the next four years,” he said. “And I don’t think that will be Donald Trump.”
Soucy, a Clinton admirer since 1992, agreed.
“This moment – for me – has been years in the making,” she said.
With the live results on MSNBC humming in the background, the room broke into applause.
(Megan Doyle contributed to this report. Katie Galioto can be reached at 369-3302, kgalioto@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @katiegalioto.)