New Hampshire held the first presidential primary of the 2024 election season on Tuesday, culminating in another victory for Donald Trump. Despite strong polling and heavy investment in the state, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley lost to Trump in the Republican primary.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden won the Democratic primary on Tuesday through write-in ballots, despite not officially running in the state because of a party decision. Long-shot candidates Dean Phillips, a congressman from Minnesota, and Marianne Williamson, who also ran in 2020, trailed behind.
Note: the tracker will show write-in results later than the other votes.
The key candidates dueling it out in New Hampshire:
Republicans – the favorites
Donald Trump
The former US president’s campaign to retake the White House and once again grab his party’s nomination got off to a slow start that was widely mocked. But after a decisive win in Iowa his campaign has steadily moved into a position of dominance and never looked likely to be dislodged from that.
Trump declined to attend any of the Republican debates, has used his court appearances and many legal woes as a rallying cry to mobilize his base, and has run a surprisingly well-organized campaign. His extremist rhetoric, especially around his plans for a second term and the targeting of his political enemies, has sparked widespread fears over the threat to American democracy that his candidacy represents.
His political style during the campaign has not shifted from his previous runs in 2016 and 2020 and, if anything, has become more extreme. Many see this as a result of his political and legal fates becoming entwined with a return to the Oval Office being seen as Trump’s best chance of nixing his legal problems.
The former South Carolina governor and ex-US ambassador to the UN under Trump has mostly hewed a fine line between being an alternative to Trump, while not outraging his base with too much direct criticism.
That has paid off as Haley has shone in debates and worked hard on the campaign trail and risen in the polls to give her a shot at coming second in Iowa and causing an upset in New Hampshire – where she is polling strongly. However, that prominence has now earned Trump’s ire and the two campaigns are openly hurling insults at each other.
Other Republicans running
Ryan Binkley
Binkley, a Texas businessman, is a long-shot candidate who is also a pastor at Create church. The self-proclaimed far-right fiscal conservative criticized both Democrats and Republicans for not being able to balance the federal budget, and said he would focus on health costs, immigration reform and a national volunteer movement.
Democrats
Dean Phillips
Dean Phillips, a three-term Democratic congressman from Minnesota, is challenging Biden, saying the next generation should have the opportunity to lead the country. Phillips is the heir to a distilling company and once co-owned a gelato company. He entered public office spurred by fighting back against Trump.
Marianne Williamson
Failed 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, who also unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives in 2014, became the first Democratic candidate to announce she is running for president as a challenge to Biden. Williamson, an author of self-help books, launched her long-shot bid with campaign promises to address climate change and student loan debt. She previously worked as “spiritual leader” of a Michigan Unity church.
