MSNBC interviewed a New Hampshire voter who said he cast a ballot for Nikki Haley in Tuesday’s primary in hopes it would ultimately harm former President Donald Trump.
The voter said he would not vote for Haley, but instead supported her to “diminish” Trump’s standing in the Republican Party.
During and leading up to the nation’s first primary, there was chatter that non-Republican voters could affect the outcome of the vote.
While Democrats cannot vote in the New Hampshire GOP primary — and vice versa — independents can cast ballots in either party’s race.
Many independent voters chose to vote in the GOP’s primary and many of them chose to back Haley.
During MSNBC’s coverage of the primary, the network spoke with one voter in the town of Hanover, who explained his ballot strategy.
While speaking to MSNBC reporter Alex Tabet, a Dartmouth College freshman named Christian Smith said he participated in the closed Republican primary to strategically hurt Trump.
A New Hampshire voter describes why he cast a “strategic vote” for Nikki Haley:
“While I wouldn’t vote for her in a general election … I think a vote for Nikki Haley helps diminish Trump’s influence in the RNC and their nomination, and is also a vote towards democracy.” pic.twitter.com/awQTvPUAYo
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 24, 2024
Should New Hampshire change its primary rules?
“I voted for Nikki Haley and it was certainly a strategic vote,” Smith said.
He continued:
“I think that the DNC is fairly resolute in their nomination for Joe Biden, and while I wouldn’t vote for her in a general election — particularly on our differences with climate change solution, a woman’s right to bodily autonomy, or incarceration rates — I think a vote for Nikki Haley helps diminish Trump’s influence in the RNC and their nomination.”
Smith concluded his ballot was “a vote towards democracy.”
Tabet told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow he had come across scores of voters such as Smith, whose sentiments were “emblematic of so many conversations” he had had with them throughout the day Tuesday.
NBC’s Steve Kornacki reported Haley won independents Tuesday by 22 points, while Trump won Republicans by 49 percent.
We’ve never seen a gap between the independent vote and the Republican vote in an NH GOP primary like we saw last night. Trump won R’s by 49, Haley took independents by 22 — a swing of 71 points. Previous high was 40. pic.twitter.com/Avq3gbxiJE
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) January 24, 2024
Trump ultimately won the primary 54.4 percent to 43.3 percent with 168,713 votes to Haley’s 134,214 votes as of Wednesday and with 95 percent of the vote counted.
Trump also secured 12 delegates to Haley’s nine.
