MANCHESTER, N.H. — Former President Donald Trump has won the New Hampshire primary, according to The Associated Press, a decisive victory that puts him on a clear path to securing the Republican nomination.
Trump dominated in last week's Iowa caucuses, and has now won the first-in-the-nation primary as well.
In New Hampshire he withstood an aggressive challenge from his former United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley, who is the final major GOP candidate standing in Trump's way after other hopefuls dropped out.
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The result is a huge blow to Haley's longshot effort to be party nominee.
New Hampshire seemed to be uniquely favorable territory for her. Independent voters, known as "undeclared" in the state, could participate in the Republican primary, giving her a boost. Haley and her allied super PACs spent more than $31 million on television ads in the small state, doubling pro-Trump spending. She also had the endorsement of the state's popular Republican governor, Chris Sununu, who campaigned for her tirelessly.
In the final full day of the campaign, Haley insisted to supporters that "Americans do not do coronations."
With this result, Trump's coronation appears almost inevitable.
Trump supporters packed arenas during back-to-back rallies leading up to the critical vote here. At those rallies, the former president brought on stage a slew of former rivals and political leaders who had endorsed him, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Gov. Henry McMaster. (Haley is also a former South Carolina governor who had appointed Scott to his post.)
"We are here for one reason," McMaster said in New Hampshire. "Those great philosophers, the Spice Girls: 'Tell us what you want, what you really, really want. Well, that's what we're here to do: to tell you what we in South Carolina want."
Haley's uncertain path ahead
Because of its relatively large numbers of independent and college-educated voters, New Hampshire was considered Haley's best chance to disrupt Trump from running away with the nomination.
Trump's decisive victory is likely to fuel calls for Haley to drop out of the race.
There was a time, before Iowa, when one could imagine Haley coming in a strong second in Iowa, then winning New Hampshire and taking that momentum into her home state of South Carolina.
But instead, she finished third in Iowa, and immediately started lowering expectations for New Hampshire. As she sprinted from diner meet and greets to hotel ballroom rallies, Haley never predicted a win in New Hampshire, instead saying she hoped for a "stronger" finish in the state.
Her goals remained undefined. But second place doesn't provide the momentum shift she needed to shake up the race.
Earlier on Tuesday, Haley's campaign in a memo laid out a hypothetical path into March, saying that she could compete in a wider variety of states, including the 16 that vote on March 5, also known as Super Tuesday.
The next two states on the primary calendar are in less moderate-friendly territory. In Nevada early next month, delegates will be awarded through a party-run caucus where Trump is well-situated, while Haley is instead signed up to appear on the state primary ballot. Then it's on to her home state of South Carolina, where the vast majority of political leaders have endorsed Trump and where the electorate is decidedly more MAGA than in New Hampshire.
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