“This race feels more like a spectator sport than an election,” said Mr. Harmon, an independent who shook hands with former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and watched a dozen other campaign contingents march through this town of about 11,000. “Having all these candidates is a real problem because it’ll be hard to hear each of them. I’m interested in Jeb Bush, but it’s not easy to pay attention to just one when there are so many.”…

“Maybe I’ll just vote for the one who leaves me alone the most,” said Tim Sullivan, a Republican from Gilford. He compared his party’s pack of candidates to “a clown car where they never stop coming out.”

For decades New Hampshire has fought to keep its place at the front of the presidential nominating contests, and party leaders talk with almost religious fervor about the state’s duty to “screen” and “weed out” second-tier wannabes to save most other Americans the trouble. The state’s media outlets, political consultants, and hotel and hospitality industries also make tens of millions of dollars from all the campaign operations. Politics is pastime here, but the 2016 race creates a challenge that is the opposite of a leisure pursuit: Is there such a thing for New Hampshire voters as too many presidential candidates?

“I can’t keep track of all of them. It’s ridiculous,” Laura Major, an independent voter from Milford, said as she collected candidate stickers and free candy from volunteers for Mr. Bush and other campaigns along the parade route here.