True test lies ahead for Pete Buttigieg after strong New Hampshire showing

NASHUA, New Hampshire — Pete Buttigieg passed the first two tests to prove his viability as a presidential candidate, but the hardest is yet to come.

The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor gained momentum after winning the most delegates during last week’s Iowa caucuses and surged in New Hampshire primary polls. The state was thought to be Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s to lose, and NBC called the race for Sanders, with Buttigieg in a close second as he addressed supporters at his primary night party — 24% to Sanders’s 26% as of 11 p.m. with 83% of precincts reporting.