Haley, Christie and others take votes away from Trump in New Mexico primary

Former President Trump saw thousands of votes in New Mexico’s primary Tuesday go to his former GOP rivals, continuing a trend seen in past voting contests this cycle.

Trump secured nearly 85 percent of the GOP primary vote in New Mexico. The remaining 15 percent was spread among Republican presidential candidates who have already suspended their bids, including former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and an “uncommitted” option.

Haley shored up 8.6 percent, while roughly 2.6 percent of New Mexico voters picked Christie. Ramaswamy garnered nearly 1 percent, while 3.3 percent chose “uncommitted,” according to results from Decision Desk HQ.

While Trump has easily won the vast majority of the GOP primaries this cycle, political observers have watched to see how many votes Haley picks up in light of her announcement last month that she would back Trump over President Biden in November.

Haley, who served under Trump’s administration, has nabbed tens of thousands of primary votes over the past several months in a few states, approached or even surpassed 20 percent of the vote. In the battleground states of Arizona and Pennsylvania, she shored up more than 100,000 votes in each earlier this year.

Political observers suggest these numbers underscore apparent frustrations that Republicans are feeling with Trump as the party’s presumptive nominee.

“Many believe that these votes are an anti-Trump vote, but there are many who aligned with her policies and style as a politician,” Ashley Davis, a Republican strategist, told The Hill last month. “These are solid conservative Republicans that will need to break Trump’s way.”  

Trump has largely dismissed the primary votes for Haley, stating last month she has “very few voters.”

“Well, she got very few voters relatively … I got almost, I guess, close to 90 percent,” the former president said at the time.