Donald Trump is aiming for a landslide victory against Nikki Haley in New Hampshire, after coming well ahead of the primary in Iowa. A second large consecutive success would give him the near certainty of being officially nominated as the Republican candidate in the November presidential election.
Donald Trump’s last major Republican rival after the withdrawal of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley hopes to create a surprise against the ultra-favorite ex-president. She hopes to attract independent voters and those not affiliated with currents within the party.
Donald Trump won the New Hampshire Republican primary by a wide margin during his first presidential campaign in 2016, but some of his allies lost important races in the midterm elections two years ago. Nikki Haley also faces an opponent who enjoys a deep connection to the Republican voter base and is trying to win the state by a margin large enough to knock out her rival.
If successful, Donald Trump would be the first Republican presidential candidate to win open races in Iowa and New Hampshire since those two states began topping the election calendar in 1976, a clear sign of his hold on the party’s most loyal voters.
If the former governor of South Carolina drops out after Tuesday’s vote, the primaries Grand Old Party would be decided in the second stage, well before the vast majority of Republican voters in the country could vote. But Nikki Haley insisted Tuesday morning that New Hampshire won’t be her last stop.
“We’re going to South Carolina“, she told reporters. “It has always been a marathon. It was never a sprint“.
She noted that she had survived longer than other contestants. “I didn’t get here by luck” she said. “I got here because I out-performed and out-performed all the other candidates. So I’m running against Donald Trump, and I’m not going to talk about obituary.”
Ms. Haley campaigned with New Hampshire’s popular Republican governor, Chris Sununu, a critic of Donald Trump. However, she noted that many representatives of the Republican power had lined up behind Donald Trump, which, according to her, contradicts the anti-establishment posture of the former president.
“It’s the political elite uniting around President Trump” insists Nikki Haley. “The political class got us into this mess. We need a normal person to get through this.”
Nikki Haley and Donald Trump are both hoping to capitalize on recent high-profile departures from the race. Nikki Haley could benefit from support from some supporters of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who campaigned decrying Donald Trump but ended his candidacy shortly before last week’s caucus. The ex-president could be able to consolidate the support of conservative voters who supported Ron DeSantis.
