On Tuesday of this week, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won the state of New Hampshire’s primary election.
After his victory in the Iowa Caucus last week, this second win is vital to Trump securing his spot for candidacy as the Republican Party (GOP) nominee.
As of today, 98% of primary votes have been counted, comprising 54% for Trump and 43% for former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley. The remainder of the votes constituted less than an additional 1%, including a 0.7% vote for Ron DeSantis, who dropped out of the presidential race just four days ago.
Trump is now the only non-incumbent Republican candidate to win both Iowa and New Hampshire.
Following the primary results, Haley vowed to remain in the race for the Republican seat, reassuring the crowd in Concord that “the race is far from over” and that Trump “should feel threatened.” In fact, one the upcoming primaries will be taking place in South Carolina, Haley’s home state, where she hopes for better luck.
In comparison to Trump’s far-right populism, Haley is a centrist Republican, who is more likely to have at least a fighting chance in a “purple” state (one with similar populations of Democratic and Republican supporters), such as New Hampshire. Though Haley was a serious contender in New Hampshire, polls show that in more conservative states–like South Carolina–she is less likely to win.
With a secured second victory and forecasted future victories, Trump has a promising chance of winning his third consecutive GOP primary, which would put him, once again, head-to-head with current U.S. president Joe Biden for the 2024 presidential election.
However, should one of these trials conclude with a guilty verdict prior to November, or should the U.S. Supreme Court step in and determine him ineligible to be placed on the ballot due to the fact that he (unconstitutionally) incited a violent insurrection on January 6, 2021 in an attempt to prevent Biden from assuming office, then Haley might encounter her window of opportunity. Political analysts say if only for that reason alone, she should remain in the race.
Biden, incidentally, has also won New Hampshire as a write-in candidate.
As a result of the Democratic National Committee’s decision to make South Carolina the first voting state this year, New Hampshire held an unsanctioned Democratic primary. Biden therefore decided to withhold his name from the Democratic primary ballot and instead launched a successful write-in campaign.
In celebrating his win, Biden thanked everyone who wrote-in his name but said–in a fitting remark characterizing the upcoming national election–that, “the stakes could not be higher.”