Trump cruises in New Hampshire primary election

Donald Trump cruised to victory in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential contest on Tuesday, marching closer to a November rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden even as his only remaining rival, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, vowed to soldier on.

“This race is far from over,” she told supporters at a postelection party in Concord, challenging Trump to debate her.

“I’m a fighter. And I’m scrappy. And now we’re the last one standing next to Donald Trump.”

At his own party in Nashua, Trump opened his speech by mocking Haley, calling her an “imposter” and saying: “She’s doing, like, a speech like she won. She didn’t win. She lost ... She had a very bad night.”

With 57% of the vote tallied, according to Edison Research, Trump held a comfortable 54.4% to 43.6% lead.

Haley had hoped the Northeastern state’s sizeable cadre of independent voters would carry her to an upset win that might loosen Trump’s iron grip on the Republican Party.

Instead, Trump became the first Republican to sweep competitive votes in both Iowa — where he won by a record-setting margin eight days ago — and New Hampshire since 1976, when the two states cemented their status as the first nominating contests.

While the final margin was still unclear, the result will likely bolster some Republicans’ calls for Haley to drop out so the party can coalesce behind Trump.

Her campaign vowed in a memo earlier on Tuesday to push forward until Super Tuesday on March 5, when Republicans in 15 states and one territory vote.

The next competitive contest is scheduled for February 24 in South Carolina, where Haley was born and served two terms as governor.

Despite her ties, however, Trump has racked up endorsements from most of the state’s Republican figures, and opinion polls show him with a wide lead.

Meanwhile, Edison projected Biden would win the New Hampshire Democratic primary, brushing aside his challenger, US Representative Dean Phillips. There were also warning signs for Biden, however.

Three-quarters of Republican primary voters said the economy was either poor or not good, an area where Biden has struggled to highlight his accomplishments.

About 51% of voters considered themselves Republican, compared to 55% in the 2016 primary, and 6% said they considered themselves Democrats, compared to 3% in 2016.

The share of independents was little changed at 43%.

Biden declined to appear on the ballot in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary, having supported an effort by his party to move their first primary election to South Carolina.

New Hampshire supporters were still able to vote for Biden by writing in his name on the ballot.

With 29% of the estimated vote counted, according to Edison, Biden had 67.7%, far ahead of Phillips at 19.4%.

In a statement later, Biden said: “It is now clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. And my message to the country is the stakes could not be higher.