By IANS
Washington : Former first lady Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire with 39 percent of the vote, with 73 percent of precincts counted.
All three major US cable news networks late Tuesday declared her the winner over Senator Barack Obama who conceded defeat after receiving 36 percent of the vote in the intra-party election.
Speaking immediately afterwards, Hillary told cheering supporters: “You deserve a president who stands up for the people.” She promised to “end the war in Iraq the right way” and “to restore American credibility throughout the world”.
John Edwards came third among the Democrats, polling 17 percent, DPA news agency reported.
Senator John McCain, a backer of the US troop build-up in Iraq, won the Republican poll.
Vietnam war hero McCain, 71, claimed victory with 37 percent over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, once the New Hampshire front-runner, who ran second with 32 percent.
“Tonight we sure showed them what a comeback looks like,” McCain exclaimed to a cheering crowd of supporters in Nashua, New Hampshire. “We celebrate one victory tonight and leave for Michigan tomorrow to win another.”
New Hampshire, a small northeastern state, traditionally holds the first primary in US presidential election year. Michigan holds the next contest on Jan 15 in the series of state-by-state votes to determine the Republican and Democratic nominees.