MANCHESTER, N.H. (WCAX) – The Iowa Caucuses took the temperature of the first phase of the race for the White House. Former President Donald Trump placed first handily, a win that is expected and creates strong momentum for his campaign.
This primary season is unlike any before. Voters who braved the cold delivered a historic 30-point win for Trump, with Ron DeSantis snagging a distant second, and Nikki Haley taking third.
Now all eyes are on New Hampshire, just a week away from the first-in-the-nation Republican primary. Matthew Dickinson of Middlebury College says New Hampshire is historically known as a state that can act as a wildcard in the nomination process. “For all intents and purposes, a lot of independents who might normally vote in the Democratic primary in New Hampshire are going to vote in the Republican primary and that boosts Nikki Haley,” said Dickinson.
Nikki Haley has been campaigning in New Hampshire for the past few weeks, even receiving an endorsement from Governor Chris Sununu. Haley has steadily closed the polling gap on Trump, as close as single digits in one recent poll. Dickinson says endorsement do matter, but more so in New Hampshire as opposed to Iowa. “There’s certainly a ‘never Trump’ contingent of voters even within the Republican party, and I think they’re particularly numerous in New Hampshire. So you know, if there’s any place where the momentum for Donald Trump can be derailed, I think it’s New Hampshire,” he said.
“Donald Trump is enough of an established name and has that strong support among the conservative wing, that he will probably win New Hampshire. I think Nikki Haley has shown that she’s closing. And her closing argument is, I think reflected in the degree to which her opponents or their surrogates are beginning to attack her by attacking her record and calling her a closet liberal, a closet Democrat. And I think that is the difficulty going forward for Nikki Haley.”
Former President Donald Trump is kicking off his run in the Granite State with campaign events all week, starting Turesday in Atkinson. Nikki Haley is doing the same, with an event in Breton Woods. Nikki Haley was expected to leave Iowa late last Monday night and headed straight to New Hampshire. CBS is reporting Ron DeSantis will be in South Carolina Monday before returning to New Hampshire later in the week for a debate.