AP VoteCast: After Iowa, many NH Dems worry about fairness

WASHINGTON — New Hampshire Democrats headed into Tuesday’s primary with a focus on matters of fairness, with just over 1 in 10 saying they were “very confident” that their party’s process for choosing a presidential nominee is fair.

The trouble in counting ballots after last week’s Iowa caucuses, an issue that has yet to be fully resolved, appears to have rattled the faith of some voters amid uncertainty about who is the Democratic front-runner.

Close to half of New Hampshire Democrats were “somewhat confident” that the selection process was fair, while about 4 in 10 were not confident about the fairness of the primaries and caucuses, according to preliminary results from AP VoteCast.

AP VoteCast is a wide-ranging survey of more than 3,000 Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.

A muddled field of candidates came out of the nation’s first nomination contest in Iowa, with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg running neck and neck in state delegate equivalents.

The New Hampshire primary is an opportunity to provide some clarity regarding their status, as well as the viability of the campaigns of former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Broader questions about fairness in U.S. society have been a central concern for the Democratic candidates.

An overwhelming share of New Hampshire Democrats — nearly 8 in 10 — view the economy as unfair. But there is little consensus on which candidate would do the best job of stewarding the world’s largest economy.

Sanders and Warren have each campaigned to overhaul an economy they say caters to billionaires, separately proposing wealth taxes to fund programs for the middle class and poor.

About 2 in 10 say Sanders is most capable on the economy and nearly as many say that of Warren.

But there are also New Hampshire Democrats who want to put the economy in the hands of one of the two billionaires seeking the nomination. Roughly 1 in 10 say they trust former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who is worth more than $60 billion and not on the ballot in New Hampshire. About the same amount percentage choose billionaire investor Tom Steyer.

Roughly 1 in 10 say Buttigieg would be best able to handle the economy.

New Hampshire Democrats take a different perspective on which candidate is best on foreign policy.

About a third say Biden is the best candidate on that issue, followed by 2 in 10 preferring Sanders and 1 in 10 choosing Buttigieg or Warren.