16 Towns to Watch in the New Hampshire Primary Tonight

These are the places that could give us clues about how the night is unfolding.

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Neighboring signs in Derry, N.H., last week.

As results start to come in across the state Tuesday night, there are several places that could offer clues about how the race is unfolding for Nikki Haley and former President Donald J. Trump.

In New Hampshire, election results are reported by towns rather than counties. Here are 16 towns to keep tabs on:

Bedford and Londonderry

These two purple towns between Nashua and Manchester are affluent suburbs that have been steadily growing since 2010 — and growing bluer too.

In Bedford, Mr. Trump won in 2016 by five points, but by 2020 the town had flipped, and Joseph R. Biden Jr. won by three. Independent swing voters who backed Mr. Trump in 2016 but favored Mr. Biden in 2020 will be an important contingent for Ms. Haley on Tuesday.

“She should do really well there. If Trump is holding his own there or even winning, then it will be a better night for him than polls are showing,” said Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire who studies the state’s politics and has written about key places to watch.

Derry

Mr. Trump carried Derry easily in 2016 and 2020 in both the general and primary elections. There’s little reason to doubt that he will win there again, but precisely how many votes he gets could have interesting implications for the wider race.

If turnout is weak in Derry, it could indicate that enthusiasm for Trump is waning a bit, said Anna Brown, the director of Citizens Count, a nonpartisan voter education nonprofit. “Or if their turnout is very high, at that point I’m looking at: Which way is it going? Do we have a lot of people that are jumping on Nikki Haley, or is this Trump just proving he’s as strong as ever?” she said.

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