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Live Updates: New Hampshire primary will test former Trump’s front-runner status
The race for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations is converging in New Hampshire on Tuesday. It is the first primary election of the season — though on the Democratic side, the contest may count only for bragging rights.
Last Updated: January 22, 2024 11:37 AM
The race for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations is converging in New Hampshire on Tuesday. It is the first primary election of the season — though on the Democratic side, the contest may count only for bragging rights.
The Republican primary will test former President Donald Trump’s front-runner status a week after he won a commanding victory in the Iowa caucuses. It will also be a test for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who wants to establish herself as the main alternative to Trump, following Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspending his campaign Sunday and endorsing Trump.
In the Democratic primary, President Joe Biden won’t appear on the ballot, since the contest violates the national party rules he pushed for, but supporters have mounted a write-in campaign on his behalf.
Results: Polls close at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday. Keep this page handy for results as they come in.
Here’s the latest:
Haley backers boo suggestion she should drop out
FRANKLIN, N.H. _ Haley supporters booed and yelled, “Noooo!” when she said the “media elite” and political establishment have been pressuring her to drop out.
“America does not do coronations,” she said at a VFW hall in Fraklin, citing low voter turnout in Iowa caucuses. “We believe in democracy.”
“Let’s show all of the media class and the political class that we’ve got a different plan in mind, and let’s show the country what we can do,” she said.
Haley, who was joined on the campaign trail by her daughter and son-in-law, said it’s no surprise that Trump has gained endorsements from South Carolina politicians and members of Congress, because she held lawmakers accountable in her home state and favors term limits in Washington.
“I don’t work for the political class,” she said. “I’ll spend every day trying to prove to you that you made the right decision.”
Trump trial canceled for the day after juror falls ill
A juror’s illness has forced a postponement of Trump’s defamation trial for at least a day, delaying the question of whether he’ll testify about his yearslong statements about sexual assault accuser E. Jean Carroll.
Trump had been expected to testify as early as Monday about why he has spoken disparagingly about Carroll since she revealed her claims in a 2019 memoir.
The judge says he can’t say that the writer concocted her allegation or that she was motivated by financial or political considerations after a different jury found last year that Trump sexually abused Carroll. Last week, Trump was threatened with expulsion from court for making comments.
Faced with Trump vs. Biden, this voter chooses Haley
FRANKLIN, N.H. _ Waiting for Haley in a dark VFW hall, Jennifer Davis said she is backing the former U.N. ambassador and governor because she supports veterans.
Davis, 40, an independent from Pembroke, said she is a caregiver to her husband, a veteran and Purple Heart recipient, and appreciates Haley’s focus on caregivers.
If faced with a Trump versus Biden matchup in November, Davis said she would write in Haley because she doesn’t want more chaos.
“I’m not giving either one of them my vote,” she said. “We need someone who is going to be a more reasonable person who can bring people together, and I think only she can do that.”
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina backs Donald Trump over Nikki Haley
Donald Trump has picked up another endorsement from Nikki Haley’s home state of South Carolina, with Rep. Nancy Mace backing the former president in this year’s GOP presidential primary.
Mace had stayed out of the 2024 Republican primary as two fellow South Carolinians — former Gov. Haley and Sen. Tim Scott — entered the race last year. On Monday, a day ahead of the New Hampshire primary, Mace told The Associated Press that she was backing Trump over Haley, who lives in her congressional district and supported her in 2022 against a Trump-backed challenger.
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The GOP race isn’t over, but the veepstakes have already started
With Trump closing in on the GOP nomination, the effective audition to become his vice president is underway.
His decisive win in last week’s Iowa caucuses and DeSantis’ departure from the race on Sunday has only heightened what had already been a widespread sense of inevitability.
Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, right, speaks as former President Donald Trump listens during a rally, Oct. 9, 2022, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
That has given visits this past week by New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, as well as South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the feel of tryouts for the role reminiscent of Trump’s days as a reality TV host.
Others who have appeared in Iowa and New Hampshire on Trump’s behalf include South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Lake was at a rally Sunday night taking pictures with supporters and holding a baby in the crowd.
Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy appeared with Trump on stage in New Hampshire a day after dropping out of the race, also drawing “VP” chants from the crowd as he delivered a fiery speech.
Trump celebrates DeSantis’ decision to drop out
Donald Trump set aside months of criticism and mockery of Ron DeSantis on Sunday night, celebrating his onetime Republican rival as his newest supporter after the Florida governor ended his presidential campaign and endorsed the former president.
For Trump, it’s become a familiar ritual to welcome the backing of someone who tried to take him on. Nonetheless, it was notable at Sunday’s rally in New Hampshire to see Trump praise DeSantis without calling him “DeSantimonious” or “DeSanctus,” putting an end to perhaps the most bitter rivalry of Republicans’ 2024 campaign.
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The race for GOP nominee winnows to Trump and Haley after DeSantis suspends campaign
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his Republican presidential campaign on Sunday, ending his 2024 White House bid just before the New Hampshire primary while endorsing his bitter rival Donald Trump.
The decision leaves Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley as the last major candidates remaining in the race ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. This is the scenario Trump’s foes in the GOP have long sought, raising the stakes for this week’s contest as the party’s last chance to stop the former president who has so far dominated the race.
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Can Trump be stopped? Key questions ahead of New Hampshire after DeSantis drops out of race
Donald Trump’s effort to march to the Republican presidential nomination faces perhaps its greatest challenge on Tuesday when voters in New Hampshire hold the first-in-the-nation primary.
With Ron DeSantis ending his 2024 campaign and endorsing Trump on Sunday, the primary becomes the first one-on-one matchup between Trump and Nikki Haley.
The former president enters the contest emboldened by his record-setting performance in last week’s Iowa caucuses. But New Hampshire has a more moderate political tradition and primary rules that allow unaffiliated voters to participate in the race. Trump-backed MAGA candidates have struggled here in recent years.
▶ This is an excerpt from a full story. Continue reading here.