The race for who will be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee narrowed on Sunday with the withdrawal of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis from the running who immediately, but perfunctorily, endorsed former President and front-runner Donald Trump, just two days before the New Hampshire primary, reported US media. The two now left in the race are Trump and former South Carolina Governor and former member of Trump’s cabinet Nikki Haley.
Without “a clear path to victory,” DeSantis tweeted after he announced his withdrawal from the race in a video, “It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance.”
One week after Former president Trump cruised to a record-breaking victory in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses vote, the former president is now working hard to deal a death blow to Haley’s also ran campaign and secure another decisive victory.
For Haley, the former US Ambassador to the UN, New Hampshire may be her last chance to show that the Republican base is prepared to support someone other than Trump, who has kept his hold on the party’s loyalty while facing four separate criminal indictments involving a total of 91 criminal charges ranging from obstruction of justice, to inciting an insurrection against the US Constitution, and unlawfully retaining classified documents, not to mention having been held liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of author E. Jean Carroll in a civil case.
New Hampshire’s significant number of independent voters, who (unlike those in Iowa) are entitled to vote in Tuesday’s election, make New Hampshire a more favorable environment for Haley than the perhaps more conservative-leaning Iowa.
However, Trump has a double-digit advantage in most statewide polls. With DeSantis’s mere 6% support now gone, DeSantis gave a lukewarm endorsement of Trump after abandoning the campaign on Sunday, calling Trump “superior” to Biden.
“I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee, and I will honor that pledge,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis’ supporters are now likely to switch their allegiances to Trump.
A Haley victory in New Hampshire might provide her campaign with the momentum and fundraising it needs ahead of the next nominating contest on February 24 in South Carolina, where she spent two years as governor.
A Trump victory, on the other hand, would heighten the sense of inevitability many feel surrounding his candidacy.
The victor of this year’s Republican primary contests will face the presumptive Democratic nominee, President Joe Biden, in November’s general election.
As Republican competitors vie in New Hampshire, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are launching a series of events aimed at emphasizing Republican-backed abortion restrictions that most Democrats, and in fact the majority of Americans, oppose.