At 2 a.m. on Wednesday Swedish time, the last polling stations in New Hampshire’s Republican primary election closed.
And according to early forecasts from the AP news agency, it will be Donald Trump who takes home the victory. With 40 percent of the votes counted, Trump holds 54.9 percent and Haley 43.4 percent of them, reports CNN.
Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, the only remaining threat to Trump, has insisted she will not step down if she loses on Tuesday to the former president, who is aiming for victory to move one step closer to retaliating against US President Joe Biden in November.
However, many analysts believe that the primary election in New Hampshire is absolutely decisive for whether Nikki Haley will have a chance against Trump in the future.
Nikki Haley: “He deserved it”
Shortly after the preliminary results, Nikki Haley congratulated Trump on the win.
– I want to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory tonight. He deserved it, she said at a campaign rally, adding that the election is far from over with many states left to vote.
The next primary will be held on February 24 in Nikki Haley’s home state of South Carolina.
Trump makes history
When the first nominating convention for the Republican primary got underway in Iowa last week, Donald Trump won by a landslide. With all votes counted, he had received 51 percent of the vote, compared to Haley’s 19 percent.
Trump can now boast of being the first Republican presidential candidate to win both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary since both states started the US election calendar in 1976.
No non-incumbent candidate has ever won both elections and then lost the nomination, writes CNN.
The text is updated.