New Hampshire Primary 2024 results: Donald Trump and Nikki Haley go head to head in US president candidate battle
A veteran elections analyst has called the winner of the New Hampshire Republican primary within minutes of the first polls closing.
A veteran elections analyst has called Donald Trump as the winner of the New Hampshire Republican primary within minutes of the first polls closing.
“I’ve seen enough: Donald Trump (R) wins the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, defeating Nikki Haley (R),” Dave Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst with Cook Political Report, wrote on X around 20 minutes after the first polls closed on Tuesday night.
With 17 per cent of votes counted just before 8pm local time (12pm AEST), the former president was leading by 54 per cent to 45 per cent.
Major media outlets including Fox News, the Associated Press and The New York Times had called the primary for Mr Trump by around 8pm.
But despite her second straight loss, Ms Haley has declared the race “far from over”.
“New Hampshire is first in the nation,” she told a crowd of supporters at her election watch party on Tuesday.
“It is not the last in the nation. This race is far from over. There are dozens of states left to go. At one point in this campaign, there were 14 of us running, and we were at 2 per cent in the polls. Well, I’m a fighter and I’m scrappy. And now we are the last ones standing next to Donald Trump.”
‘Let her do whatever she wants’
Earlier, the one person standing between Mr Trump and his coronation as the 2024 Republican candidate for the US presidential election declared, “I don’t do what he tells me,” after there were calls for her to drop out of the race.
But Mr Trump has retorted that he “doesn’t care” if Ms Haley continues to fight to be the presidential nominee despite an expected defect in the crucial US primary being held today.
“I don’t care if she stays in,” he said of the former United Nations Ambassador.
“Let her do whatever she wants. It doesn’t matter.”
The New Hampshire primary could see Mr Trump all but confirmed as the 2024 Republican Party nominee.
One of Mr Trump’s main cheerleaders Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green has said the race was “over” and “Donald Trump is our nominee”.
But a defiant Ms Haley has said she won’t stand down and will keep fighting.
“I don’t do what he tells me to do,” she told CNN.
“I’ve never done what he tells me to do.
“I’m running against Donald Trump. And I’m not going to talk about an obituary, just because y’all think we have to talk about it.”
Ms Haley has said she was focused on bettering her result in last week’s Iowa caucus - where she came a distant third - and then fighting in her home state of South Carolina where she was once governor.
Trump could wrap it up today
Ms Haley is now the only person who stands in the way of him capturing the coveted Republican presidential ticket after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out after the former president’s runaway win in the Iowa Caucus last week.
On polling day in the north east state of 1.3 million people, situated between Boston and the Canadian border, both candidates met voters.
The money is on Mr Trump winning – the question is by how much.
If Ms Haley, 52, picks up a decent percentage of the vote, and predictions are she will do much better in New Hampshire than Iowa, she may remain in the Republican race.
But if Ms Haley polls badly in New Hampshire she may decide to drop out altogether.
Ms Taylor Greene, barracking for Mr Trump, said on Tuesday if Mr Trump gets 55 per cent of the vote, Ms Haley should halt her campaign. That’s unlikely, but if Ms Haley’s numbers are low it could be seen as a waste of resources and her backer’s money to keep going.
That would set up a rerun of the 2000 election between Mr Trump, 77, and Mr Biden, 81.
A Globe/Suffolk/NBC10 poll had Ms Haley 19 points behind in New Hampshire on the eve of the election.
Both call each other a ‘loser’
Most polling locations in New Hampshire will close at 7pm (11am AEST) but some will remain open until 8pm (12pm AEST).
Results are expected to begin coming in shortly after polls close.
Registered Republicans and independents can vote in the New Hampshire Republican primary.
The results will determine how many of New Hampshire’s 22 delegates to the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July vote for Mr Trump and how many for Ms Haley. The RNC will then formally decide who will run for president for the Republicans.
Ms Haley and Mr Trump both traded accusations of each other being “losers” as polls opened on Tuesday.
“The reality is, who lost the House for us? Who lost the Senate? Who lost the White House?” Ms Haley told reporters.
“Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump.”
Mr Trump hit back with exactly the same claims.
“If you want a losing candidate who puts America last, vote for Nikki Haley,” he said in his closing arguments at a small but lively rally in the village of Laconia, in ten centre of the state.
“But if you want a president who puts America first every single time, you’re going to vote for Donald J. Trump.”
Robocall scandal
The primary has become embroiled in scandal after the authorities in New Hampshire said they would be investigating a robocall that incorrectly claimed to come from Joe Biden.
The Democrats are also holding a primary in New Hampshire on the same day but it’s almost certain Mr Biden will be the candidate.
In the call, a voice impersonating Mr Biden urges voters not to take part in the primary.
“Although the voice in the robocall sounds like the voice of President Biden, this message appears to be artificially generated based on initial indications,” the Attorney-General’s Office said.
“These messages appear to be an unlawful attempt to disrupt the New Hampshire Presidential Primary Election and to suppress New Hampshire voters.”
“New Hampshire voters should disregard the content of this message entirely,” it added.
In his convention-smashing mission to take revenge against Mr Biden and win a second White House term, Mr Trump has defied the fallout from two impeachments, four criminal trials awaiting him and lawsuits for fraud and sexual assault.
While Ms Haley has questioned his mental fitness and warned that another Trump presidency would bring “chaos,” polls indicate her efforts will provide little more than a bump in the road in New Hampshire.
Ms Haley sounded defiant on Tuesday as voting started, telling Fox News that “political elites are saying we all need to coalesce around him. This is not a coronation. This is a democracy”.
“We are going to have a strong showing today here in New Hampshire.”
Mr Trump had a crushing victory in the first contest in Iowa last week, with Ms Haley a distant third, and no Republican has ever won both opening contests and not eventually gained the nomination.
What was once a crowded field of 14 candidates narrowed to a one-on-one match-up on Sunday after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out, following a second-place finish in Iowa.
He and Mr Trump were in a comparatively close race until the ex-president’s multiple court indictments began to drop in March, compelling his supporters to close ranks.
Scott Manninen, a 48-year-old production manager, told AFP at a campaign event in the village of Hollis on Monday that the legal issues would not stop him from voting for Trump.
“I think it’s a lot of smoke and mirrors – just trying to bash him and trying to get it so that people go against him,” he said.
– with AFP
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