WASHINGTON DC-(MaraviPost)-New Hampshire’s Republican Party chairman Chris Ager said Saturday that former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley “absolutely” is likely to defy polling to beat former President Donald Trump in the state primary this week, according to Bloomberg, while he also defended the state’s primary procedure amid criticism from the ex-president.
Trump holds about a 15 percentage point lead over second-place Haley (48.9% to 33.8%), according to the latest FiveThirtyEight polling average, which has grown in recent days.
Speaking at an event hosted by Bloomberg, Ager maintained Haley was not out of the race, saying she “absolutely” was likely to win.
Trump has in recent days suggested Haley’s support in New Hampshire is illegitimate because it could come from independent voters, at times falsely claiming Democrats are allowed to vote in the Republican primary.
Ager argued the inclusion of independents in the primary had no bearing on the legitimacy of the results, noting the system has been in place for over 40 years and “Donald Trump took advantage of that in 2016,” asserting it allows for the selection of the most electable candidate in a general election to be the nominee, rather than a “fringe” choice.
Unlike other states, New Hampshire allows independent or undeclared voters to vote in a primary, but they must pick either a Republican or Democratic ballot to vote, and voters registered as either Democrats or Republicans cannot vote in the opposing party’s primary.
Trump won this week’s Iowa caucuses by around 30 percentage points.
Crucial Quote
“The momentum and the expectations are all on Donald Trump’s side,” Ager said, per Bloomberg. “But stranger things have happened.”
Crucial Quote
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung on Friday doubled down on Trump’s criticism of the New Hampshire primary, claiming Democrats changed their parties to become undeclared voters before the state’s cut-off date in October.
“Former President Trump is correct when he says Nikki Haley is relying on liberals and Democrats to infiltrate because that’s who she appeals to,” Cheung told ABC News.
Tangent
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis remains in the background in most New Hampshire polling, with only 7% of the vote in the latest Suffolk University/NBC10 Boston/Boston Globe tracking poll Saturday.
Surprising Fact
President Joe Biden will not be included on the New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot. The Democratic National Committee last year approved a new electoral calendar that made South Carolina the first primary state.
But New Hampshire is moving ahead with its primary anyway in defiance of the Committee’s calendar.
The DNC has since declared the New Hampshire Democratic Primary as “meaningless” and Biden’s campaign has announced plans to skip it.
- Source: Forbes