Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Tuesday that she will fight on even if she loses in the New Hampshire primary to former President Donald Trump.
Further, Haley’s campaign manager Betsy Ankney argued in a memo first reported on by The New York Times that she has a clear path forward, even if New Hampshire does not go her way.
Ankney wrote, “take a deep breath” because “we aren’t going anywhere.”
Meanwhile, conservative pollster Richard Baris posted on X, “The [Nikki Haley] campaign has now entered delusion and denial phase, where [Ron DeSantis] was right before and after Iowa.”
“Almost all losing campaigns go through it,” he continued. “Back on Planet Earth, New Hampshire is her best state demographically, with doomsday after in her own state.”
The @NikkiHaley campaign has now entered delusion and denial phase, where @RonDeSantis was right before and after Iowa.
Almost all losing campaigns go through it.
Back on Planet Earth, New Hampshire is her best state demographically, with doomsday after in her own state. https://t.co/yGnP3qyUkY
— Rich Baris The People’s Pundit (@Peoples_Pundit) January 23, 2024
Ankney refuted the notion that New Hampshire is, “the best it’s going to get” for Haley, because of its semi-open primary, which allows undeclared voters, who may even normally vote Democrat, to cast ballots in the Republican primary.
WMUR-TV reported as of Dec. 28, “There were 343,192 voters registered as undeclared, with 262,262 registered Democrats and 267,905 registered Republicans.”
Do you think Nikki Haley should drop out?
“Undeclared voters may still vote in the presidential primary by choosing a party ballot when arriving at the polls. Once a ballot is chosen, the voter will become a registered member of that party, but may return to undeclared status before leaving the polls,” the news outlet explained.
Ankney contended that there are other states with similar open primaries to New Hampshire going up to Super Tuesday on March 5.
“The reality is that the path through Super Tuesday includes more states than not that have this dynamic,” she wrote.
The next primary is in Haley’s home state of South Carolina, “which has no party registration, and anyone can vote in the Republican primary if they have not already voted in the Democratic primary,” Ankley wrote.
Then she pointed out that 11 of the 16 states up for grabs on Super Tuesday have “open or semi-open primaries,” including Virginia, Texas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina and Vermont, “all with favorable demographics.”
Ankley said that after Super Tuesday, “We will have a very good picture of where this race stands.”
One responded on X to the memo writing, “Am I reading this correctly, that the fact the primaries aren’t Republican-only is the advantage? Talk about saying the quiet part out loud …”
Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt asked Haley on Tuesday, “Do you get out if you lose today?”
“No, I don’t get out if I lose today,” Haley said. “Again, I’m going to say this, we’ve had 56,000 people [in Iowa] vote for Donald Trump, and you’re going to say that’s what the country wants? That’s not what the country wants.”
The Times reported that Haley has scheduled fundraisers in California, Florida, New York, and Texas in the coming weeks and has already booked a $4 million television ad buy in South Carolina.
The FiveThirtyEight daily tracking poll shows Trump leading Haley in South Carolina by approximately 62.2 percent to 25 percent.
Nationally, Trump polls 67.7 percent to Haley’s 12.4 percent.
Trump’s support has increased since Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis exited the race on Sunday.
