The second electoral showdown on the road to the White House is taking place in New Hampshire on Tuesday. Nikki Haley is the last person standing between Donald Trump and his party's nomination.
Although there is a Democratic primary taking place in New Hampshire this Tuesday, no one seems to be paying attention. In fact, President Joe Biden isn't even on the ballot.
The big story is the Republican primary and whether Donald Trump can steamroll his last competitor — his former ambassador to the United Nations — Nikki Haley.
Haley is seeking to hang on long enough to make it to the February 24 primary vote in her home state of South Carolina, where she served as governor (2011-2017) and sees a home-state advantage.
Haley vows to carry on, Trump seems to embody inevitability
Haley says she has no intention of dropping out of the race even after she likely loses on Tuesday: "This has always been a marathon. It's never been a sprint," she said.
The only woman in what started out as a 14-person Republican field, Haley has seen a mild surge in popularity over the past several weeks and is attempting to make the case that she provides a younger and less chaotic choice for voters who might like Trump's policies but don't like him personally.
Trump, who faces myriad civil and criminal indictments and will continue to split his time between the courtroom and the campaign trail, has so far demolished all GOP challengers for the party's nomination.
Haley claims her record and her potential appeal to independents make her the only Republican who could defeat Biden and retake the White House this November.
On Tuesday, Haley's team said she intends to stay in the race through "Super Tuesday" on March 5, when voters in 16 states will cast ballots for their party's candidate.
"After Super Tuesday," read a campaign memo, "we will have a very good picture of where this race stands. At that point, millions of Americans in 26 states and territories will have voted."
Down to two after Trump crushed DeSantis in Iowa
The GOP race was whittled down to two candidates after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, once seen as a bright new Republican star, finished a very distant second to Trump in the January 15 Iowa Caucus (Trump 51%, DeSantis 21.2%, Haley 19.1%).
DeSantis, who was polling around 6% in New Hampshire, immediately joined forces with Trump to attack Haley after he left the race, despite the fact that Trump publicly humiliated him and his family on a daily basis.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, said Haley would lose big in New Hampshire — just as she did in Iowa, where she came in third.
"I don't care if she stays in. Let her do what she wants. It doesn't matter," said Trump, who has refused to even debate his GOP challengers, saying he doesn't need to.
New Hampshire fights to maintain tradition
Voting in New Hampshire kicked off at midnight, where Nikki Haley swept all six votes in Dixville Notch, which is traditionally the first district in the state to vote.
As of midday, election officials said that voting was going smoothly throughout the state with steady turnout.
New Hampshire has been the first-in-nation primary for more than 100 years — though the Iowa Caucus takes place before New Hampshire, it is technically not a primary — even passing a state law requiring that it take place before any other state.
The Democratic National Committee, however, decided last year that South Carolina — with its far more diverse voting base — would go before New Hampshire, creating the confusion surrounding this year's Democratic primary ballot.
New Hampshire Democrats refused to accept the party's decision and staged the vote anyhow.
Biden, however, respecting the party, did not submit his name to be entered on the ballot. Therefore, despite running essentially unopposed, Democratic supporters will have to write his name on the ballot rather than being able to check it from a list.
Most polls in New Hampshire close at 7 p.m. EST (00:00 GMT), though some will remain open until 8 p.m.
Returns are expected soon after that, though Democrat results will take longer to tabulate due to the fact that they must be reviewed and hand-counted with Biden being a write-in candidate.
Source: Dw
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