Nikki Haley vows to fight on after New Hampshire defeat

Indian American Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley vowed to soldier on after losing to former President Donald Trump in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary after giving a good fight in what was considered her strongest state.

With more than 90% of precincts reporting, Trump led Haley 54.7% to 43.1%. The Associated Press had called New Hampshire for Trump at 8 pm EST, just as the last polls closed there. Trump’s victory made him the first non-incumbent Republican candidate in the modern era to win both the Iowa and New Hampshire contests.

Yet Haley, the first Indian American to serve in a presidential cabinet as US ambassador to UN under Trump, congratulated her former boss — “He earned it, and I want to acknowledge that” — but vowed to continue on in her primary fight.

Haley claimed in her runner-up speech that by garnering “close to half of the vote,” she’d earned the right to continue her campaign.

Haley gets a good start in an uphill battle against Trump (January 23, 2024)

“We still have a ways to go, but we keep moving up,” Haley said. “New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not the last in the nation. This race is far from over. There are dozens of states left.”

As Haley has for days, she took the opportunity at her election night party to excoriate the press and “political class” for saying the Republican primary is all but done. She also again criticized both Trump and President Joe Biden for their “senior moments,” making a point about both candidates’ ages.

Haley projected a strong finish in her home state South Carolina, where she is polling significantly behind Trump, but she said the voters there will fondly recall the policies she enacted as governor.

READ: Nikki Haley calls Trump and Biden “equally bad” for the nation(January 22, 2024)

Every time I’ve run for office in South Carolina, I’ve beaten the political establishment. They’re lined up against me again, that’s no surprise,” she said. “But South Carolina voters don’t want a coronation, they want an election.”

In response, a fuming Trump spent most of his own speech Tuesday falsely attacking Haley as an imposter who had claimed victory.

“Somebody ran up to the stage, all dressed up nicely,” he said, referring to Haley. “She didn’t win. She lost.” But “I don’t get too angry,” Trump continued. “I get even.

Haley’s team had long targeted New Hampshire — which has a large concentration of centrist, college-educated Republicans and allows independent voters to participate in party primaries — as the best place to put a win on the board and potentially complicate Trump’s march to a third straight Republican nomination.

Some polls showed her at or above 40%. Reflecting her rise, Haley’s campaign and its allied super-PACs spent a total of nearly $30 million on TV, radio and digital ads in New Hampshire — roughly double the $15 million spent on Trump’s side.

Haley calls Trump ‘threatened’ and ‘insecure’ over ‘birther’ claims (January 19, 2024)

At one point, Haley went so far as to joke that New Hampshire would “correct” the Iowa results, but in the end she fell short in the one state that seemed most open to it.

While Haley won 60% of New Hampshire independents (who made up 43% of the primary electorate, according to exit polls), Trump still won 74% of Republicans (who comprised slightly more than half of the electorate),

Nationally, the most recent Yahoo News/YouGov survey, from mid-December, found Trump leading Haley 70% to 19% in a head-to-head matchup.

Haley is set to hold a rally tomorrow night in North Charleston, and has already launched a new ad campaign there.

Looking ahead, the Haley campaign has identified its make-or-break moment as the March 5 pileup of primaries known as Super Tuesday — many of which are open to independents.

“Until then, everyone should take a deep breath,” Haley’s campaign manager wrote in a memo released Tuesday.

Haley released her first two ads in South Carolina as part of a $4 million ad buy as she shifts her focus to the state’s primary next month, according to CNN.

The first ad titled, “Nikki Haley’s Story Starts Right Here,” highlights Haley’s argument that a Trump-Biden matchup is a “rematch no one wants.”

“Biden too old. Trump too much chaos. A rematch no one wants. There’s a better choice for a better America,” the ad said.

The 30-second slot highlights Haley’s South Carolina roots and pitches her as the best alternative to both the current and former president.

“Her story started right here. America’s youngest governor. A conservative Republican and boy did she deliver. Nikki Haley will cut taxes, close the border, and defeat the Chinese Communist threat. America’s new chapter. Strong and Proud.”

The second ad, titled “Nikki Haley Delivers,” touts the former South Carolina governor’s time in office, detailing that she “turned South Carolina into an economic powerhouse, cutting the unemployment rate from 11% to 4%, cutting taxes, and making sure American jobs went to Americans.”

The initial $4 million ad buy will air statewide.