Former President Donald Trump appears poised to win his third consecutive Republican presidential nomination after a resounding victory Tuesday in the New Hampshire primary.
The results seem likely to set up a rematch in November between Trump and President Joe Biden, the Democrat who unseated him in the 2020 election.
The Associated Press called the race for Trump at 8 p.m. At about that time, with 18% of the vote reporting, Trump had rolled up 54% of the vote in unofficial returns against his only remaining GOP opponent, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who took 44%.
Trump’s victory in New Hampshire follows last week’s blowout win in the Iowa caucuses, where the 45th president won more than 50% of the vote in a four-candidate race that also included Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswami, both of whom since have withdrawn and endorsed Trump.
The next contest is in Nevada and the Virgin Islands, where a Republican caucus occurs Feb. 8. The South Carolina primary is set for Feb. 24. Michigan’s primary will be Feb. 27. On March 5, 16 states will have contests in what is called Super Tuesday.
The question now is whether Haley, who was Trump’s first ambassador to the United Nations, will remain in the race for the Feb. 24 primary in South Carolina, her home state, where she trails her former boss by over 30 points, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.
Trump’s win comes one night after a rally in Laconia, New Hampshire, that included brief speeches from three of his former GOP challengers–Ramaswamy, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
DeSantis, who came in a distant second place in the Iowa caucuses, dropped out of the race Sunday and endorsed Trump in a video statement.
Haley, who argued that Trump can’t win in November or would be surrounded by “chaos” if elected, pointed to general election polls that show her lead over Biden to be larger than Trump’s.
Haley had the backing of New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican. She also was endorsed in the primary by both the conservative editorial board of the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper in Manchester and the left-leaning editorial board of The Boston Globe.
At one point, Haley appeared to be within striking distance of Trump, trailing by only seven points. However, after Trump’s decisive win in Iowa, his lead grew to more than 20 points.
Polls closed at 7 p.m. in New Hampshire, although some were open until 8 p.m. Voters already in line by closing time were allowed to vote.
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