Trump and Haley Aim for Strong Finish as Voting Winds Down in New Hampshire

Donald Trump is eyeing a win in New Hampshire’s Republican primary in his first one-on-one contest against Nikki Haley, while President Joe Biden is hoping to avoid embarrassment by prevailing in a Democratic primary where he isn’t even on the ballot.

The former president is looking for his second straight victory in his quest for the 2024 GOP nomination after knocking out the rest of the field with a commanding win in Iowa. Haley, meanwhile, is seeking to capitalize on her strength with independent and anti-Trump voters eager for a fresh voice to lead the party.

On the Democratic side, Biden supporters have mounted a write-in campaign on his behalf to avoid a loss, even though the contest awards no delegates because it violates the national party rules he pushed for.

Polls were beginning to close in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primaries. Polls in most of the state closed at 7 p.m. ET and some close at 7:30 p.m. The last polls in the state close at 8 p.m.

And in tiny Dixville Notch, which has only a handful of residents, polls opened at midnight and closed a few minutes later after all voters cast a ballot.

Biden Focus Shifts

Biden is dispatching two of his senior-most White House advisers to his reelection campaign in Delaware as his focus shifts to the general election in November.

The new roles for deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon and senior adviser Mike Donilon had been expected, and campaign aides insisted it was not a sign of a broader shakeup. The campaign said Donilon would focus on advertising and strategy, while O’Malley Dillon would work on organizing and the electoral mechanics.

Trump’s Election Night

Trump’s legal, political and personal worlds are colliding at Trump’s election night party.

His son Eric Trump, daughter-in-law Lara Trump, lawyer Alina Habba and valet Walt Nauta were among the figures from Trump’s orbit wandering around the Nashua hotel hours before Trump was set to take the stage.

Habba has been representing Trump in several of the legal cases he faces, including his civil fraud trial in New York and civil sex abuse and defamation trial.

Nauta was Trump’s valet at the White House before joining him as a personal aide at Mar-a-Lago. He was charged along with Trump in a federal case over the mishandling of classified documents. Nauta has pleaded not guilty to charges that he helped the former president hide classified documents from federal authorities. He has remained by Trump’s side as he campaigns and attends court hearings for his various legal cases.

Democrat Competition

Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips was spotted earlier in the day shaking the hands of poll workers and voters at a school gymnasium in Derry.

The Minnesota congressman entered the race in October in an event outside New Hampshire’s statehouse, saying, “It is time for the torch to be passed to a new generation of American leaders.”

Phillips is highly unlikely to wrest the Democratic presidential nomination away from Biden, even if the president suffers an embarrassing loss Tuesday in a state where he’s not even on the ballot. Still, his run offers a symbolic challenge to national Democrats trying to project the idea that there is no reason to doubt the president’s electability.

Self-help author Marianne Williamson is also seeking the Democratic nomination.

Trump Predicts

Trump is predicting that Haley will likely have a “big loss” in New Hampshire.

Speaking at a polling site Tuesday afternoon, Trump insisted Haley wasn’t a threat to his campaign and said she is free to continue challenging him for the GOP nomination.

“I don’t care if she stays in. Let her do whatever she wants,” he said. “It doesn’t matter.”

He said he wouldn’t comment on whether he’d spoken to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and whether he would consider him as his running mate. “I just can’t comment on that,” he said.

Haley Won’t Budge

Haley is vowing to stay in the race even if Trump wins New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation GOP primary.

The former U.N. ambassador has focused considerable resources in New Hampshire, hoping to capitalize on the state’s independent streak as she looks for an upset or at least a tight loss that could dent Trump’s continued domination of Republican politics.

“I’m running against Donald Trump, and I’m not going to talk about an obituary,” Haley told reporters at a polling site in Hampton.

Regardless of how New Hampshire goes, she says, she plans to be in the race for South Carolina’s Feb. 24 primary.

“This has always been a marathon. It’s never been a sprint,” she said.