CONCORD, New Hampshire (NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump is projected to secure his second election victory of 2024, winning the New Hampshire primary and inching closer to becoming the Republican Party’s nominee.
Trump prevailed over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who had been furiously campaigning in the state as she sought to close the gap between herself and Trump. In the end, Trump’s base of supporters made sure he was the first to cross the finish line.
Trump immediately went after Haley in his victory speech, saying she had a “very bad night” and criticizing the upbeat tone she took in her own speech.
“She didn’t win. She lost,” Trump said. “She did very poorly.”
With easy wins in both early states, Trump is demonstrating an ability to unite the GOP’s factions firmly behind him. He’s garnered support from the evangelical conservatives who are influential in Iowa and New Hampshire’s 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.
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.
“Let’s not have someone take a victory when she had a very bad night,” Trump said. He added, “Just a little note to Nikki: She’s not going to win.”
Haley congratulates Trump, sets sights on South Carolina
Haley congratulated Trump but vowed to stay in the race, calling the result a “great night” for her campaign.
“The political class … are falling all over themselves, saying this race is over. I have news for all of them: New Hampshire is first in the nation, it is not the last in the nation,” Haley said Tuesday night. “This race is far from over.”
Trump discounted Haley’s chances in future primary contests in posts on his Truth Social platform.
“Haley said she had to WIN in New Hampshire. SHE DIDN’T!!!” the former president said.
While not a victory, Haley is hoping the second-place finish can give her enough momentum to ride to her home state of South Carolina’s Feb. 24 primary. She’s currently polling at 27% there, 34 points behind Trump, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.
“South Carolina voters don’t want a coronation, they want an election,” Haley said. “We’re gonna give them one.”
Haley has campaigned on a message of leading the next generation of conservatives in America, a message that failed to resonate with the majority of Republican voters in New Hampshire who preferred Trump’s vision.
The former president said after his landslide win in Iowa that it’s time for the country to “come together.” He vowed to “drill, baby, drill” and “seal up the border” if he is reelected.
He again emphasized the need to shore up border security in his New Hampshire victory speech.
“We have millions and millions of people flowing into our country illegally,” Trump said. “There’s never been a border like this in the world.”
Each argues they’re better positioned to beat Biden
Prior to Tuesday’s vote, Haley earned the endorsement of New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, but it wasn’t enough to propel her to victory. She was courting the state’s large bloc of independent voters who may have been disillusioned by Biden’s policies but found Trump an unappealing alternative.
Indeed, polls consistently show that Americans don’t want a Trump-Biden rematch. About 59% in a recent NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll said they would not be enthusiastic about a rematch, and 43% of respondents think Trump would win that showdown compared to 33% who expect Biden to win.
Haley argues both Biden and Trump are past their prime, advocating for a different path for the country.
“The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to be the party that wins this election,” Haley said. “I think it should be the Republicans that win this election.”
Haley leaned heavily into polling ahead of the New Hampshire primary, telling voters that she stood the best chance of beating Biden in November. Polls often showed her running ahead of Biden in a hypothetical matchup by several points, a much better head-to-head performance than if the Republican candidate were Trump.
Trump pointed to the polls as a strength of his own. Currently, Trump is leading Biden in polling 43.9% to 42.6%, according to Decision Desk HQ averages. Haley’s lead in a hypothetical matchup is 43.6% to 40.4%.
“We’re way up on everybody,” Trump said.
On Monday, both Republican candidates delivered closing messages to voters. Trump addressed a packed rally in Laconia, while Haley delivered a speech to a crowded ballroom in Salem.
During Trump’s speech, he barely referenced Haley, suggesting he may already be focused on the general election. His central message urged voters to turn out at polls, expressing confidence in winning and highlighting the margin of victory as a signal to the Biden campaign of his strength as a candidate.
Additionally, he urged supporters to start saving America today.
Haley’s message was notably distinct — she delivered her regular speech, outlining her vision for fixing the economy, the border and foreign policy.
Biden wins via write-in effort
On the Democratic side, Biden won his party’s primary but had to do so via a write-in effort. The Democratic National 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.
He easily bested two longshot challengers, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips and self-help author Marianne Williamson, who were on the ballot along with a host of little-known names. His victory in a race he was not formally contesting essentially cements the president’s grasp on the Democratic nomination for a second term.
The New Hampshire race will likely not count toward amassing delegates for the presidential nomination after Democrats in the state bucked a Biden-championed revamp of the primary calendar that placed South Carolina at the fore of the Democratic race for the White House.
“I want to thank all those who wrote my name in this evening in New Hampshire,” Biden said in a statement. “It was a historic demonstration of commitment to our democratic process.”
He’s characterized the 2024 election as a fight for democracy and said after Trump’s Iowa win that the stakes are high.
“This election was always going to be you and me vs. extreme MAGA Republicans. It was true yesterday and it’ll be true tomorrow,” he said last week in a post on X.
His campaign struck a similar tone Tuesday night.
“Tonight’s results confirm Donald Trump has all but locked up the G.O.P. nomination, and the election-denying, anti-freedom MAGA movement has completed its takeover of the Republican Party,” campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. “Donald Trump is headed straight into a general election matchup where he’ll face the only person to have ever beaten him at the ballot box: Joe Biden.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.