Former President Donald Trump won New Hampshire's Republican presidential primary on Tuesday, based on early results.
Trump's victory marks his second of the nominating contest. He also won last week's Iowa caucuses.
Given that he has won the first two nominating events by comfortable margins, he and his backers seem to be eager to set their sights past the remaining primaries and caucuses and onto November's general election.
Trump's victory also doesn't come as much of a surprise as polling showed he had a comfortable lead over Nikki Haley, who served as the ambassador to the United Nations during Trump's presidency. Haley was hoping that an upset in New Hampshire could give her momentum going into next month's primary in South Carolina, where she was governor prior to joining the Trump administration.
Haley conceded the New Hampshire primary Tuesday evening.
Although Trump's margin of victory in New Hampshire will be smaller than his win in Iowa, it will likely go down as a sizable win for the former president.
Turnout appeared to be strong, as the Boston Globe reported that several townships requested additional ballots to meet demand.
The field faced a major shake-up on Sunday when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis exited the race amid flailing poll numbers. A Monmouth University-Washington Post poll released Monday showed DeSantis would have had an estimated 8% of the vote. The poll was taken before DeSantis' announcement on Sunday.
The same poll showed Trump leading with 52% of the vote compared to Haley's 34%.
With more than half of the vote in from Tuesday, Trump was leading Haley 55-44, perhaps indicating some making up their minds last minute went for Haley.
Tuesday's primary comes eight days after Trump won the Iowa caucuses with over 50% of the vote.
There were 22 delegates up for grabs. New Hampshire allocates delegates proportionally among all candidates getting at least 10%. Decision Desk HQ projects Trump will win at least 12 delegates, while Haley will win at least nine. There is one left to divvy.
For the entire nominating contest, there are 2,429 delegates, meaning it takes 1,215 to secure the GOP's nomination.
Despite the second-place finish, Haley said she is committed to staying in the race.
But Trump seemed to think the race is already over as polls show him well ahead of Haley.
"She had a very bad night," Trump said. "She did very poorly. Actually, she had to win. The governor (New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu who backed Haley) said she's gonna win, she's gonna win, she's gonna win. Then she failed badly."
Meanwhile, many leading Republicans say it's time to unite behind Trump's campaign.
"I endorsed President Trump because he delivered on promises to unleash our economy, secure our border, make America energy independent, and achieve peace through strength — and I believe he will do so again as President, while helping us to grow the majority in Congress," House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote. "I encourage Republicans to unite behind President Trump so we can achieve victory in November and end the disastrous Biden presidency."
