A huge step towards winning the Republican anointing ahead of the US presidential elections was taken by Donald Trump, who achieved another “clean” victory in the State of New Hampshire against his only opponent, Nikki Haley. With 88% of the votes counted Trump receives 54.6% and elects 12 electors against Haley’s 43.2% who elects 9 electors.
Despite her defeat, Halley, who is left alone against Trump after the departure of Ron DeSantis, argued that she remains in the race to claim the anointing, stating that there is still a long way to go and that she will now focus on the election contest in South Carolina on February 24.
Results
With 88% of the vote counted Trump secures 54.6% of the vote, securing 12 electors. For her part, Haley receives 43.2% and elects 9 electors.
On the hunt for electors
So far, and after these two electoral contests in the States of Iowa and New Hampshire, Trump has gathered 32 electors to Haley’s 17. In this light, there is indeed a long way to go for the two candidates to secure the 1,215 electors (out of a total of 2,429) that give the Republican nomination.
Republican political tradition shows that the winner usually manages to capture the required number of electors around May or June. It is recalled that in 2016 Trump managed to catch the “magic number” on May 26.
Haley’s problem
However, in 2016, Trump did not win every electoral contest. So far, 2024 has succeeded and what Haley needs is to start winning states in order to increase her electorate. The problem, however, is that it doesn’t look like Haley can actually defeat Trump in which State.
Currently electors are distributed proportionally between candidates, even if one loses in a State. However, this is set to change drastically from March 15, when the winner of the election can win it all. It is clear that Haley faces an extremely difficult political battle.
The next election contests are scheduled for February 8 for the States of Nevada (Haley will not participate) and the US Virgin Islands, where only registered Republicans will participate. Also, even in the State of South Carolina the polls show that Trump has a huge lead.
Trump upset about Haley’s stay
Immediately after the first election results that showed his dominance in New Hampshire as well, Trump in his statements expressed his annoyance at the fact that Haley did not announce her withdrawal from the race. In fact, Trump went a step further, calling Haley a “fraud” because she spoke of a “victory” despite the fact that she did very badly.
Haley: We still have a long way to go
For her part, Haley argued that the race for the Republican nomination is far from over. In a speech to supporters in New Hampshire, she argued that “there are still dozens of states left” while rushing to blame Trump for the Republicans’ heavy losses in the 2018 and 2022 midterm elections and the 2020 presidential election. In fact, Haley argued that “if Trump gets the anointing, then we will be talking about Joe Biden’s victory”.
Democrats: Almost certainly the anointing for Trump
Commenting on the election result in the State of New Hampshire, Democrats argue that it is now almost certain that Trump has locked up the Republican nomination. “Tonight’s results confirm that Donald Trump has almost locked up the nomination of the Republican Party,” said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, director of Joe Biden’s campaign team.
Biden victory… and in the internal party of the Democrats
However, Joe Biden also emerged as the winner in the internal party elections that were held in parallel in the State of New Hampshire, despite the fact that there was an intense confrontation regarding the schedule of the election contest with the national organization of the Democrats. In fact, Biden had led the effort of the Democrats to exclude the State from the process of nominating candidates for the anointing, but in the end more conciliatory voices prevailed and thanks to a low-key campaign, Biden achieved a comfortable victory.
