New Hampshire voters are casting their ballots in the first-in-the-nation primary Tuesday, officially a two-person clash between former President Trump and former U.N Ambassador Nikki Haley in the battle for the GOP presidential nomination.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis abruptly ended his campaign on Sunday after underperforming in the high-stakes Iowa caucuses, where he had devoted most of his time and resources to courting the state’s deeply conservative base. DeSantis has endorsed Trump, who remains the dominant front-runner for the party nod.
Haley, meanwhile, has been betting big on New Hampshire, where Republican voters tend to be more moderate, and she secured the coveted endorsement of the state’s governor, Chris Sununu (R).
Trump holds a 13.9 percent lead over Haley in the New Hampshire race, based on The Hill/Decision Desk HQ analysis of 68 polls. Trump is averaging 50.8 percent to Haley’s 36.9 percent.
The race had tightened between the two earlier this year, but the polls show Trump got a boost after DeSantis and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy ended their campaigns. Both endorsed Trump.
The Hill’s Julia Mueller breaks down the top five things to watch in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Secretary of State David M. Scanlan predicts some 322,000 voters will turn out for the Republican primary. Anyone who is a registered Republican or unaffiliated voter can cast a ballot in the GOP race.
Bonus: Each voter will get one of three adorable “I voted” stickers drawn by fourth graders in a state-wide competition last year.
Most polling precincts will close at 7 p.m., but a few will remain open until 8 p.m. under a flexible state law. Significant vote tallies are expected to roll in a few hours after closing. New Hampshire does not allow early voting or general mail-in ballots, but it allows absentee voting in limited cases.
Haley won all six votes in the tiny village of Dixville Notch, N.H., which kicked off the primary voting at midnight early Tuesday morning, as is tradition.
The Hill has live updates on New Hampshire here.
