It's Haley vs Trump in New Hampshire as Ron DeSantis withdraws from next primary
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signalled that he would largely bypass the New Hampshire primary next week and instead would focus on South Carolina where the Republican presidential primary is scheduled for February 24. The move makes it a direct contest between former president Donald Trump and Indian American Nikki Haley for the crucial Republican presidential primary in New Hampshire on January 23.
The latest poll released Wednesday showed that Trump and Haley are tied in this State with both polling 40 per cent each.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has endorsed Haley.
Trump won the first Republican presidential caucus this Monday by bagging more than 51 per cent of the votes. DeSantis came second with over 21 per cent of the votes and Haley followed him with 19 per cent of the votes.
On Wednesday the DeSantis campaign signalled that it would largely skip campaigning in New Hampshire and instead pour its entire resources and energy into South Carolina, which also happens to be the home State of Haley, where she was elected twice as governor.
«I'm the only candidate who beats Joe Biden by double digits. And a victory that big means a conservative landslide from school boards to the US Senate. We will have a mandate to stop the chaos and save America,» Haley wrote in an op-ed for the New Hampshire Journal.
Sununu told the New Hampshire Journal that the presidential primary is still «a two-person race» between Haley and Trump.
«Because DeSantis isn't here (in New Hampshire). He's out of money, he has no momentum, and he's in single digits,» he said.
The New York Times wrote that the change in strategy by DeSantis appeared to set up the one-on-one
