In a major boost, Donald Trump has won the New Hampshire primary and so has Joe Biden -- making the rematch between the two highly possible in the 2024 US presidential elections. Even as Trump races closer to the nomination, his staunch rival and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley vowed to put up a tougher fight.
She told her supporters "This race is far from over" even as she congratulated Trump.
According to Edison Research, Trump had 53.2 per cent votes compared with Haley's 45.3% who was seeking an upset win to loosen Trump's grip on the Republicans. However, Trump emerged stronger with this win after victory in the crucial Iowa caucus with a record margin.
On the other hand, US President Joe Biden won the primary despite a missing campaign and with his name missing from the ballot. This worried his loyalists who launched an unofficial write-up campaign and encouraged important leaders to go to the polls in a show of support for the President.
The next major step in the elections will be witnessed on February 24 in South Carolina where Haley was born and served two terms as governor. However, Trump has been able to get endorsements despite her ties and opinion polls are projecting a major lead for him.
But his win is not likely to yield massive support for the nomination as Democrats bucked the Biden-backed revamp of the primary calendar that placed South Carolina at the fore of the race. He argued that putting South Carolina on February 3 was needed to give Black Democrats and votets of colour for them to play a larger role. Biden won the South Carolina primary back in 2020 after a defeat in New Hampshire with a mostly white electorate.
But his win was overshadowed by Trump's victory who seemed to be rejuvinated after the Iowa win that cememted his status in the race to the White House.