Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley declared Tuesday night that the Republican presidential race was “far from over” — despite falling short in her bid to upset former President Donald Trump in the New Hampshire primary.
“New Hampshire is first in the nation, it is not last in the nation,” Haley, 52, told supporters in Concord minutes after Trump’s win was projected by media outlets. “This race is far from over. There are dozens of states left to go. And the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina”
Haley had initially pinned her campaign’s hopes on a shock win in the Granite State — nabbing the endorsements of popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu and 2022 GOP Senate candidate Don Bolduc — but that support wasn’t enough to prevent the race from being called as the last polls closed at 8 p.m.
With 36% of the estimated vote counted, the former president registered 53.6% support against Haley’s 45.3%.
But Haley pointed out in her concession speech that she had received “close to half of the vote” and would “keep moving up.”
Live election results from New Hampshire
New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan had forecast high voter turnout, with an expected 322,000 Granite State residents casting ballots in the Republican primary and 88,000 in the Democratic primary.
But even with more than 50,000 New Hampshire independents, or undeclared voters, preparing to vote for Haley, Trump emerged victorious and calls among his supporters grew louder for the former ambassador to the United Nations to drop out.
“I want to congratulate Donald Trump,” Haley said, after thanking Sununu, Bolduc and others for their support.
She went on to blast the “political class” who she said were “falling all over themselves saying this race is over,” before turning on both Trump and President Biden.
“With Donald Trump, you have one bout of chaos after another. This court case, that controversy, this tweet, that senior moment,” Haley said. “You can’t fix Joe Biden’s chaos with Republican chaos.”
Her remarks also referenced a flub during the former president’s primary eve address to his supporters, during which he confused Haley with House Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and “accused me of not providing security at the Capitol on Jan. 6.”
“The worst-kept secret in politics is how badly the Democrats want to run against Donald Trump,” Haley added.
“South Carolina voters don’t want a coronation. They want an election,” she concluded, offering another invitation for the frontrunner to debate her. “We are just getting started.”
“Thank you for the love New Hampshire,” she concluded, “we are going home to South Carolina.”
Trump fired off several posts on his Truth Social account during Haley’s speech, pointing out his strong polling lead against Biden in a general election matchup.
“Haley said she had to WIN in New Hampshire. SHE DIDN’T!!!” he said. “SHE JUST LOST NEVADA, WHICH IS UP NEXT!”
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump told reporters he did not consider Haley a “threat.”
“I don’t care if she stays in. Let her do whatever she wants. It doesn’t matter,” he said outside a polling place in Londonderry.
With Haley ducking Nevada’s Feb. 8 Republican caucus in favor of the non-binding primary Feb. 6, the two will next face off in the Feb. 24 South Carolina primary, where Trump holds a polling lead of more than 30 points, according to the RealClearPolitics average
