Nikki Haley looked to New Hampshire voters on Tuesday to help her block Donald Trump’s march to the Republican Party’s presidential nomination with an upset win, or at least score enough support to keep her campaign going in bigger U.S. states.
The former U.S. president and Haley, a former South Carolina governor who was Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, were in a two-person race in the New England state after Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, dropped out and endorsed Trump.
Polls show Trump with a wide lead over Haley, who needs a victory or at least a strong showing in New Hampshire to carry her to the next nominating contest in her home state, where Trump is also dominant in the polls.
Trump had a record-setting victory in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation contest last week.
New Hampshire, while also a mostly white state with a small population, has a more moderate Republican electorate and a better record of predicting the eventual nominee.
Haley came in a close third behind DeSantis in Iowa and has focused her early campaign on New Hampshire.
“It’s a building game,” she said in Manchester. “You just want to keep getting stronger and stronger and stronger. That’s our goal.”
A resounding win in New Hampshire would help propel Trump to secure the party’s nomination despite multiple criminal counts against him, two impeachments and his chaotic 2017-2021 presidency.
The Republican nominee will face President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, in the general election in November.
Trump, who is balancing campaign stops with appearances in various courts, denies wrongdoing and has used the criminal charges to bolster his claim of political persecution.
He predicted victory on Tuesday in New Hampshire, where he made a stop at a polling station in Londonderry. “So excited. I’m very confident,” he said.
“The corrupt Washington Swamp has done everything in its power to take away your voice — but on Tuesday, I believe New Hampshire is going to speak LOUD AND CLEAR,” Trump said earlier on social media.
The first ballots in New Hampshire went to Haley. Voters in the tiny northern hamlet of Dixville Notch – always the first to vote in the state – chose Haley over Trump 6-0.
Haley’s campaign said on Tuesday it intends to keep her candidacy alive through “Super Tuesday” in early March, when 16 states vote.
“After Super Tuesday, we will have a very good picture of where this race stands. At that point, millions of Americans in 26 states and territories will have voted,” a campaign memo said.
DEMOCRATS STRATEGY
Biden is not on the ballot in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary, having supported an effort by his party to move their first primary election to the more diverse state of South Carolina.
New Hampshire supporters will still be able to vote for him by writing Biden’s name on the ballot, which could be a barometer of his political strength.
The Democratic president, whose advisers are anticipating a rematch with Trump, planned a rally in Virginia on Tuesday night to discuss the threat to abortion rights if Republicans win back the White House.
The rally comes after Virginia Democrats secured majorities in the state legislature after making abortion rights a central campaign issue.
The Supreme Court, with a conservative majority made possible by three justices who joined the court under Trump, struck down in 2022 the Roe vs Wade ruling that guaranteed women’s right to abortion.
Biden, in addition to focusing on abortion, has cast Trump as a would-be dictator and a threat to democracy.
In New Hampshire, Haley stepped up her attacks on Trump, criticizing his affinity for strongmen such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Haley has also gone after Trump’s age and mental acuity, attacks she has also regularly leveled at Biden.
She took up the theme again on Tuesday, saying the country needs to put someone in the White House that can put in eight years to get it back on track.
“Do you want two 80-year-olds running for president?” Haley asked.
In Manchester, voter Don Salem said he didn’t think people on either side wanted a Biden-Trump contest. Yet he backed Trump in 2020 and voted for him again on Tuesday.
“There’s been a lot of attacks on him, but I’ve ignored that for the most part,” Salem said.