Nikki Haley, Trump’s first major challenger, hits the streets in New Hampshire
By Richard Cowan and Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley brought her fledgling campaign to New Hampshire on Thursday, as the former United Nations ambassador looks to raise her national profile and build momentum in a state that plays a key role in presidential selection.
Haley became the second major Republican this week to say he is seeking the party’s presidential nomination in 2024, over his old boss, former President Donald Trump. The 51-year-old daughter of Indian immigrants held her first campaign event in Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday.
As a former governor of that state, serving from 2011 to 2017, he was greeted warmly by familiar crowds, but will face a new test in New Hampshire, which is expected to host the first Republican primary of the 2024 campaign.
“He was in front of a good, hometown crowd … the question is whether he can carry that momentum into states where he’s not as well known as Iowa and New Hampshire,” said Republican Rob Godfrey, who served as Haley’s deputy chief of staff when he was the governor.
Trump won the New Hampshire primary in 2016, setting the stage for his successful first campaign and easily won the nomination a second time before losing his re-election bid to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.
But state voters have also repeatedly re-elected Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, a far more moderate voice than Trump, and rejected hard-right Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Bolduc in November.
Haley will attend an evening town hall event in Exeter, about 45 miles (70 km) north of Boston in southern New Hampshire.
In the early days of her campaign, Haley emphasized the need for generational change. Trump is 76, and Biden, who is expected to seek re-election but has not officially begun campaigning, is 80.
Haley also cited her time as U.N. ambassador under Trump from 2017 to 2018 as a way to stand up to geopolitical foes including China and Russia.
He has his work cut out for him. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday found that only 4% of registered Republicans support the former governor for president.
Trump received the support of 43% of registered Republicans in the poll conducted from February 6-13, while 31% said they supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to launch a campaign but has not yet done so.
The Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary are traditionally the first two events of the US presidential nominating season.
This year Democrats voted to bypass those two states, which are less diverse than the nation, in favor of starting in South Carolina. Republicans plan to stick to the traditional path.
Next week, Haley will head to Iowa for a pair of campaigns.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan in Washington and Gram Slattery in Charleston, SC; Editing by Scott Malone and Bill Berkrot)
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