MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) 鈥 Former President Donald Trump easily won New Hampshire's primary on Tuesday, seizing command of the race for the Republican nomination and making a November rematch against President Joe Biden feel all the more inevitable.
The result was a setback for former U.N. Ambassador , who finished second despite investing significant time and financial resources in a state famous for its . She's the last major challenger after Florida Gov. ended his presidential bid over the weekend, allowing her to campaign as the sole alternative to Trump.
Trump鈥檚 allies ramped up pressure on Haley to leave the race before the polls had closed, but Haley vowed after the results were announced to continue her campaign. Speaking to supporters, she intensified her criticism of the former president, questioning his mental acuity and pitching herself as a unifying candidate who would usher in generational change.
鈥淭his race is far from over. There are dozens of states left to go,鈥 Haley said, while some in the crowd cried, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not over!鈥
Trump, meanwhile, can now boast of being the first Republican presidential candidate to win open races in Iowa and New Hampshire since both states began leading the election calendar in 1976, a striking sign of how rapidly Republicans have rallied around him to make him their nominee for the third consecutive time.
At his victory party Tuesday night, Trump repeatedly insulted Haley and gave a far angrier speech than after his Iowa victory, when his message was one of Republican unity.
鈥淟et's not have someone take a victory when she had a very bad night,鈥 Trump said. He added, 鈥淛ust a little note to Nikki: She鈥檚 not going to win.鈥
With easy wins in both early states, Trump is demonstrating an ability to unite the GOP鈥檚 factions firmly behind him. He鈥檚 garnered support from the evangelical conservatives who are influential in Iowa and New Hampshire鈥檚 more moderate voters, strength he hopes to replicate during the general election.
Trump posted especially strong results in the state's most conservative areas, while Haley won more liberal parts. The only areas in which Haley was leading Trump were in Democratic-leaning cities and towns such as Concord, Keene and Portsmouth.
Pat Sheridan, a 63-year-old engineer from Hampton, voted for Trump 鈥渂ecause he did a really good job the first time.鈥
鈥淲e need a businessman, not bureaucrats,鈥 Sheridan said.
About half of GOP primary voters said they are very or somewhat concerned that Trump is too extreme to win the general election, according to , a survey of the state鈥檚 electorate. Only about one-third say the same about Haley.
Still, Haley's path to becoming the GOP standard-bearer is narrowing quickly. She won鈥檛 compete in a contest that awards delegates until South Carolina鈥檚 Feb. 24 primary, bypassing the Feb. 8 Nevada caucuses that are widely seen as favoring Trump.
As South Carolina's former governor, Haley is hoping a strong showing there could propel her into the March 5 contests. But in a deeply conservative state where Trump is exceedingly popular, those ambitions may be tough to realize and a home-state loss could prove politically devastating.
鈥淭his is just the beginning; we鈥檝e got the rest of the nation,鈥 said Sandy Adams, 66, an independent from Bow who supported Haley. 鈥淚 think we鈥檝e got a strong candidate, and the first time we have just two candidates, and that鈥檚 a great thing.鈥
On the Democratic side, Biden but had to do so via a write-in effort. The Democratic 好色tv Committee voted to start its primary next month in South Carolina, but New Hampshire pushed ahead with its own contest. Biden didn't campaign or appear on the ballot but topped a series of little-known challengers.
Trump's early sweep through the Republican primary is remarkable considering he faces related to everything from seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election to mishandling classified documents and arranging payoffs to a porn actress. He left the White House in 2021 in the grim aftermath of an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol led by his supporters who sought to stop the certification of Biden鈥檚 win. And Trump was the first president to be impeached twice.
Beyond the political vulnerabilities associated with the criminal cases, Trump faces a logistical challenge in balancing trials and campaigning. He has frequently appeared voluntarily at a New York courtroom where a jury is considering whether he should to a columnist who last year won a $5 million jury award against Trump for sex abuse and defamation. He has turned these appearances into campaign events, holding televised news conferences that give him an opportunity to spread his message to a large audience.
But Trump has turned those vulnerabilities into an advantage among GOP voters. He has argued that the criminal prosecutions reflect a politicized Justice Department, though there鈥檚 no evidence that officials there were pressured by Biden or anyone else in the White House to file charges.
Trump has also repeatedly told his supporters that he鈥檚 being prosecuted on their behalf, an argument that appears to have further strengthened his bond with the GOP base.
As Trump begins to pivot his attention to Biden and a general election campaign, the question is whether the former president鈥檚 framing of the legal cases will persuade voters beyond the GOP base. Trump lost the popular vote in the 2016 and 2020 elections and has faced particular struggles in suburban communities from Georgia to Pennsylvania to Arizona that could prove decisive in the fall campaign.
Trump in the months leading up to the primary but didn鈥檛 spend as much time in the state as many of his rivals. Rather than the traditional approach of greeting voters personally or in small groups, Trump has staged large rallies. He has spent much of his time complaining about the past 鈥 including the due to widespread voter fraud.
If he returns to the White House, the former president has promised to enact a hardline immigration agenda that includes stopping migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and that originally targeted seven Muslim-majority countries. He鈥檚 also said the entering the United States are 鈥減oisoning the blood of our country,鈥 .
Biden faces his own challenges. There are widespread concerns about his age at 81 years old. Dissent is also building within his party over Biden鈥檚 alliance with Israel in its war against Hamas, putting the president鈥檚 standing at risk in swing states like Michigan. A rally he held in northern Virginia on Tuesday to promote abortion rights 鈥 an issue his party sees as critical to success in November 鈥 was disrupted repeatedly by protests over U.S. military support for Israel. One person shouted 鈥渟hame on you!鈥
But he avoided potential embarrassment in New Hampshire even as rivals like Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips compared him in advertising to Bigfoot 鈥 since both were hard to find.
Durwood Sargent, 79, of Bow, cast a write-in vote for Biden and said he wasn鈥檛 offended that the president kept his name off the ballot.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a big deal. They鈥檝e made a big deal out of it. The president鈥檚 got a country to run,鈥 he said.
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Colvin reported from Nashua, New Hampshire. Weissert reported from Washington. The AP's Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Michelle L. Price in Nashua, New Hampshire, Joseph Frederick in Franklin, New Hampshire, and Mike Pesoli in Laconia, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.
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