New Hampshire Primary Results–Four Key Takeaways

Donald Trump looks increasingly likely to be the next Republican presidential candidate after he defeated Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary.

With 91 percent of the votes counted, Trump has received more than 54 percent of the vote, with Haley, the former South Carolina governor, 11 points behind in second place on 43 percent, according to the Associated Press.

New Hampshire was seen as a potentially closer race than the Iowa caucus, where Trump also received more than 50 percent and beat Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who dropped out of the race before Tuesday's vote, by a record-breaking 30-point margin.

However, even in a state which is considered more moderate that Iowa, Haley still lost the New Hampshire primary by a double-digit margin, with Trump also becoming the first non-incumbent Republican in the modern era to win the first two races of the party's primary nomination process. The results substantially increase the already strong likelihood there will be a rematch between Trump and Joe Biden in the 2024 election.

Below, Newsweek has compiled some of the key takeaways from the New Hampshire primary results. Haley's and Trump's offices have been contacted for comment via email.

Nikki Haley Vows to Stay in the Race

Despite a second significant defeat, Haley has said she has no intention of dropping out of the primary race yet and insists she is still focusing on the next contest in her home state of South Carolina.

"Most Americans do not want a rematch between Biden and Trump. The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to win this election. I say it should be the Republicans," Haley told a crowd of her supporters on Tuesday night. "So our fight is not over, because we have a country to save.

"Every time I've run for office in South Carolina, I've beaten the political establishment. They're lined up against me again. That's no surprise. But South Carolina voters don't want a coronation," she added. "They want an election. And we're going to give them one, because we're just getting started."

Following Tuesday's victory, Trump's campaign team called on Haley to suspend her campaign immediately while suggesting she does not have a path to victory, including claiming she will be "absolutely clobbered" in the South Carolina Republican primary.

"Nikki Haley said she's running to stop the re-election of Harris-Biden. Yet, without a viable path to victory, every day she stays in this race is another day she delivers to the Harris-Biden campaign," Taylor Budowich, CEO of Trump's Make America Great Again Inc super PAC, said in a statement.

"It's time for unity, it's time to take the fight to the Democrats, and for Nikki Haley: it's time to drop out."

Trump Didn't Rely on MAGA Base

According to a CNN exit poll of more than 2,000 Republican voters, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of those taking part in the New Hampshire primary said they do not consider themselves part of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement associated with Trump.

Instead Trump appears to be the overwhelming favorite among the strong GOP base, with around three-quarters of voters who were registered as Republicans supporting him in Tuesday's race.

Around six in 10 of New Hampshire GOP primary voters said they would be satisfied if the former president clinched the GOP's 2024 nomination.

Haley Won Independents

As expected, Haley was the clear preferred candidate among independent voters, with the former South Carolina governor backed by 61 percent of this potentially key demographic, according to CNN.

The exit poll also revealed that 37 percent of those taking part in Tuesday's New Hampshire vote considered themselves either moderate or liberal, which is one of the reasons why Haley was expected to pose a greater challenge to Trump than she did in the Iowa caucus.

While the moderate and independent vote was not enough for Haley to win, it is a potential warning sign to Trump for the general election, as it is far from guaranteed that these voters in New Hampshire or any key swing state will vote for the former president over Biden in November's race.

According to an Associated Press (AP) VoteCast survey of 1,989 Republican New Hampshire primary voters, about half of Haley's supporters voted for Biden in 2020.

Warning About Trump's Legal Issues

There was another potential concern for Trump from the New Hampshire primary results regarding how voters view his multiple criminal cases.

The AP VoteCast survey found nearly 40 percent of those taking part in Tuesday's primary believe Trump did something illegal in either his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, his actions in and around the January 6 attack, or his retaining of classified documents after he left office.

There have been numerous other polls that suggest that Trump would lose support if he is a convicted criminal by the time of November's presidential election. According to the CNN exit poll, 42 percent of voters in the New Hampshire GOP primary said Trump would not be fit for the presidency if he is convicted of a crime.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 91 felony charges across four criminal investigations, and has called the inquiries politically motivated "witch hunts" that aim to prevent him winning the 2024 race.