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New Hampshire primary: Nikki Haley clean sweeps Trump in Dixville Notch, winning all six votes
Nikki Haley has won the Dixville Notch midnight primary in New Hampshire with six votes, managing a clean sweep over former President Donald Trump.
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has won the Dixville Notch midnight primary in New Hampshire with six votes, managing a clean sweep over former President Donald Trump and all the other candidates.
In the first round of the New Hampshire primary, all six registered voters in Dixville Notch chose Haley.
“A great start to a great day in New Hampshire,” said India-American presidential candidate Haley in a statement moments after the vote was recorded. “Thank you Dixville Notch!”
The ballot was cast by two independents and four registered Republicans, and Trump, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, did not receive enough votes to win.
In the 2024 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, the resort town cast the first ballot in the country. Since 1960, Dixville Notch has held first-in-the-nation elections, with the results being declared just after midnight.
In 2016, Governor John Kasich of Ohio defeated Trump in Dixville Notch by three votes to two, but Trump went on to win the primary by a margin of 19 percentage points over the Buckeye Stater.
Trump says Nikki Haley won't be his VP pick, cites lack of calibre
Trump has thrown cold water on the idea of picking Haley as a running mate, asserting that she was not of that calibre.
“She is OK, but she is not presidential timber. And when I say that, that probably means she is not going to be chosen as the vice president,” Trump stated at a rally in Concord on Friday, as per The Hill.
“When you say certain things, it sort of takes them out of play, right? I can’t say, ‘She’s not of the timber to be the vice president’ and then say, ‘Ladies and gentleman, I’m proud to announce that I’ve picked',” Trump added.
Haley's surge in the Republican race—with her poll numbers have been rising steadily over the past few months—has stoked rumors that she might run as Trump's No. 2.
Although Haley has consistently stated she is not seeking to finish second in the Republican primary, she has previously refrained from expressing with certainty whether or not she would be the former president's running mate. Haley is currently Trump's closest competitor in the New Hampshire polls.
The 77-year-old Republican front-runner has recently launched personal attacks against Haley, including sharing a false "birther" conspiracy.
Haley was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa in Bamberg to immigrant Punjabi Sikh parents, and she has served as governor of South Carolina for two terms.
