CONCORD, N.H. -- New Hampshires Democratic primary voters confirmed Tuesday that they do, in fact, want a self-described democratic socialist as their partys presidential nominee.

Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, had consistently led former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in polls of the Granite State since last fall , with margins that frequently surpassed 20 percent. On Tuesday, he defeated Clinton handily.

"Together, we have sent the message that will echo from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine to California," Sanders said at his victory party in Concord, New Hampshire. "And that is that the government of our great country belongs to all of the people, and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors and their super PACs."

Sanders argued that the Democratic Party will thank him later for inspiring voter enthusiasm, getting a dig in at Donald Trump , who won the GOP primary Tuesday night , in the process.

"Because of a huge voter turnout -- and I say yuuuge -- we won, because we harnessed the energy and the excitement that the Democratic Party will need to succeed in November," he said.

Sanders' win confirms that Democratic voters identify with a message that many in the party establishment have written off as too radical . Theres a slew of policy positions Sanders has advocated for that Clinton wont touch, like making public college free, boosting the minimum wage to $15 across the country, legalizing marijuana, expanding Social Security benefits, reinstating the firewall between commercial and investment banking activities and enacting single-payer, universal health care. While each of these positions has significant, if not majority support among Democratic voters, taking on all of them at once was considered bold for a serious Democratic primary candidate.

Clinton attempted to dampen Sanders' expected win ahead of Tuesday night, arguing that his popularity shouldnt come as a surprise since he represents a neighboring state. But it took months for Sanders to catch up to Clinton in New Hampshire in terms of his number of offices and paid organizers on the ground. And Clinton had the support of many of the states highest-profile Democrats , including Gov. Maggie Hassan and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

Sanders' entrance into the race last spring was met with skepticism from Clintons allies , who dismissed his political position as too liberal and extreme to appeal to voters. (They still think hes too liberal , though theyre not dismissing the threat he poses to Clinton anymore.) Former President Bill Clinton argued that Sanders' worldview isnt connected with reality , and that many of the desired reforms the senator touts would be impossible to achieve in a Congress controlled by Republicans, as it is now. Hillary Clintons backers have consistently painted Sanders' political views as out of touch, and suggested that he sympathizes with socialist and communist leaders .

But those tactics didnt resonate in New Hampshire. While the state's voters are famously contrarian , they have not, as Mother Jones David Corn recently noted , traditionally embraced Democratic insurgent candidates in the same way they have Republican renegades. New Hampshires Democratic picks in the last three primaries have been the establishment candidates: Clinton in 2008, John Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000.