Former US President Donald Trump won the New Hampshire Republican primary,
CBS News projected, defeating his sole remaining rival Nikki Haley in a victory that further cements his status as the clear front-runner to become the GOP's 2024 presidential nominee.
While Trump's final margin of victory remained to be seen as of late Tuesday night, his win in the Granite State deals a blow to Haley's efforts to unite an anti-Trump coalition of moderate Republicans and independents capable of slowing his march to the nomination.
Speaking after Trump's victory came into focus, Haley said she would remain in the race, telling supporters that "this race is far from over."
"I have news for all of you — New Hampshire is first in the nation, it is not the last in the nation," she said.
The former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor faced immediate pressure from Trump supporters to drop out of the race and unite the party, a preview of the likely next phase of the campaign. Trump declared victory soon after she spoke and criticized the upbeat tone of her speech, saying she had a "very bad night."
Haley had been closing the gap with Trump in the weeks leading up to New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary, and the electorate in Tuesday's contest was far more moderate than the voters who delivered Trump's victory in the Iowa caucuses. Republicans eager for an alternative to Trump had hoped that the state's large number of independent voters, who could participate in either party's contest, would propel Haley to victory, but the time and money she and her backers devoted ultimately weren't enough to loosen Trump's grip on the GOP.
With his win in New Hampshire and decisive victory in Iowa, Trump has now topped the first two contests of the 2024 election cycle. The winners of the primary in the Granite State in the last four competitive election cycles have gone on to secure the party's presidential nomination, including Trump in 2016. No Republican in the modern primary era has lost the nomination after winning both Iowa and New Hampshire.
