Trump Overpowers Haley in New Hampshire Republican Primary as Biden Nabs Democratic Win

By Leah Watson, The Kennedy Beacon

Voters cast their ballots in a contentious, first-in-the-nation New Hampshire Republican primary on January 23, handing former president Donald Trump a decisive win over former UN ambassador Nikki Haley. 

Meanwhile, President Biden quietly won the New Hampshire Democratic primary despite the fact that he did not appear on the ballot. Outraged over Biden’s voting calendar change, New Hampshire officials held an unsanctioned Democratic primary on Tuesday, although the DNC has said it will not award delegates based on the results. Although Biden wasn’t listed on the ballot, the president’s allies launched a vigorous write-in campaign supporting his re-election. According to the Guardian, with about 90% of the votes counted, Biden received about 51.5%, Dean Phillips 19.8%, and Williamson 4.7%. 

Liam Enea, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

One of the reasons Robert Kennedy Jr. left the Democratic party, late last year, to run as an independent was because the Biden campaign had tried to move the first primary to a state where Biden won in the last election — South Carolina.

On Tuesday night, Kennedy’s campaign released information indicating RFK Jr. had qualified as an independent for the New Hampshire ballot by collecting the required 3,000 signatures to get his name there.

Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, dropped out of the race on Sunday, just days before the New Hampshire primary. DeSantis experienced a brutal loss to Trump in the Iowa caucuses on January 15, when Trump took the lead with 51% of the votes, leaving DeSantis and Haley polling at 21.1% and 19.1%.

DeSantis’s loss was devastating, as he considered Iowa to be key in his campaign. DeSantis spent great amounts of time and money within the state, with multiple campaign stops, while supporters diligently knocked on doors canvassing during an inconvenient blizzard. Despite these efforts, DeSantis lost to Trump and only narrowly beat Haley for second place. He announced his departure from the race, acknowledging that “we don’t have a clear path to victory.” DeSantis also capitulated an endorsement for Trump and vowed to uphold that pledge.

Haley, on the other hand, who hadn’t put as much effort into Iowa, seized upon the opportunity to try and secure a victory in New Hampshire and make a comeback. Haley campaigned for weeks in New Hampshire and gained support from New Hampshire’s Republican state senator, Bill Gannon. In an NPR broadcast aired on the Tuesday morning of the primary, Gatton stated that Haley “unifies the party” and is “going to move America forward.” Gatton also thought that she would “clean up in the independents” as she appeals to a larger voter base. 

Artaxerxes, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

​​Haley delivered a speech in Salem, New Hampshire on the eve of the primary, her fifth and final campaign stop of the day. Urging supporters to get out and vote the following day, Haley presented herself as a Republican leader who would not wreak havoc upon the country. Haley said she was once proud to serve under Trump when he was president but now believes that “chaos follows him, and we can’t be a country in disarray and have a world of fire and go through another four more years of chaos because we won’t survive it.”

In closing, Haley said that it’s time for a change and that Americans don’t want another rematch between Trump and Biden. “Don’t complain about what happens in a general election if you don’t go vote tomorrow,” Haley warned her supporters.

Trump also made final remarks before the primary in Laconia, New Hampshire, urging listeners to vote out Biden and his lunacy from the White House. Trump boasted that he’d made an award-worthy win in Iowa, and said that the election was now between only two people. “I think one person will be gone probably tomorrow, and the other one will be gone in November,” he said. 

Trump invited onto the stage Republican presidential candidates who have dropped out of the 2024 race and have since endorsed him, including entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and Senator Tim Scott. Trump suggested that World War III is imminent so long as Biden remains in office. Throughout his speech, he name-called President Biden as “crooked Joe.” According to Trump, since Biden has been elected, America has become a joke, is no longer respected, and the only hope for the nation is “contingent on MAGA winning the election.”

Following these speeches, the primary election kicked off in the small community of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. Following the tradition since 1960, Dixville casts the state's initial votes at the stroke of midnight on the day of the primary. The six unanimous votes in Dixville officially placed Haley in the lead. However, this electoral spectacle did not last for very long.

As most of the remaining towns closed their polls at seven p.m. Tuesday evening, the results began trickling in. Almost immediately, it became apparent that Trump had taken the lead with Haley trailing close behind. At eight p.m., the Associated Press called the election just as the final polls were closing, announcing a Trump victory. At eight p.m., Haley was polling at 44.8% and was ten points behind Trump at 54.2%. A small number of voters (0.6%) stubbornly voted for DeSantis, despite his bowing out of the race.

Although many believe that the New Hampshire primary was Haley’s last chance to remain in the election, she is determined, announcing that she intends to continue her campaign against Trump, with plans to run in the primary of her home state of South Carolina on February 24.

There are more primaries and the future is unclear, however the results of the New Hampshire primary point to another rematch between Trump and Biden in November — one that holds no interest for many voters.