Trump Beats Haley In New Hampshire Primary, Biden Wins As A Write-In

On Tuesday night, former President Donald Trump logged another dominant win over his last prevailing challenger, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, in the New Hampshire primary.

On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden won even though he was not even listed on the ballot. The Democrats awarded no delegates because they had changed their primary calendar, moving South Carolina to the first in the nation spot previously held by New Hampshire.

With the New Hampshire primary, the GOP took another big step toward firmly establishing itself as the party of Trump. According to exit polls run by NBC, 75% of voters who identified as conservatives voted for Trump in the primary. Haley won 58% of independent voters, but they compromised a much smaller percentage of the electorate than self-identified conservatives.

This second blow to Haley’s campaign in the Granite State doesn’t seem to be eroding her resolve, despite the uphill battle she faces.

“New Hampshire is the first state, not the last. There are dozens of states to go. And the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina,” declared the former South Carolina governor. Haley is polling poorly compared to Trump for the primary scheduled on February 24.

Nevada is holding a caucus next week, but Haley is not even on the ballot.

Haley’s pitch that she is a chaos-free alternative to Trump is not connecting with the Republican base.

In New Hampshire, Republican voters said their top two concerns were the economy and immigration, issues Trump has hammered home. Voters also say they want a candidate who can beat Biden, which Haley has been desperately pushing herself as. But the voters aren’t buying it. Fifty-nine percent of voters who say that electability is a top issue for them side with Trump.

All of this points to a long month for the Haley campaign between now and South Carolina, but Haley said she plans to “keep fighting.” And a fight it will be. Haley is soon to find herself the last remaining target of Trump’s petulance. The former president has already floated a “birther conspiracy” surrounding Haley, falsely alleging that she isn’t eligible to run for president.

Pro-Biden groups ran a successful write-in campaign in the state and beat his top Democratic challenger, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minnesota), three to one.

All of this points to a Trump-Biden rematch in the general election, two of the oldest (Biden, 81 and Trump, 77) and least popular presidents in U.S. history.

Article by Clark Franzman