As of 8 pm ET, the calls started trickling in announcing former President Donald Trump as the winner of the New Hampshire Republican primary.
The question will be the final margin and whether Nikki Haley is close enough to remain in the race.
Live Results: NBCNews.com, DecisionDeskHQ.com
As of just after 8 pm ET, here’s what the race is looking like, per the New York Times:
One thing the Times also does is offer a forecast based on the vote totals and reported numbers. As of now, the final margin for Trump might be slimmer than the projected high double-digit victory some polls suggested:
It was undeclared and independent voters who pulled Haley out of the basement:
Donald Trump defeated Nikki Haley on Tuesday in the New Hampshire primary, his second consecutive victory in his bid to secure his party’s presidential nomination.
With 17% of the votes counted, the Associated Press called the race for Trump. Ahead of the primary, the former president led Haley in most polls by a substantial margin.
But a large turnout by independent voters helped boost the former South Carolina governor, who said Tuesday that she would remain in the race at least through the Super Tuesday primaries on March 5.
By that account, Haley won the primary of independents and moderates in New Hampshire. Donald Trump won the primary among Republican voters.
As discovered by exit polling, most of Haley’s voters jumped in the game merely to vote against Trump, especially since the Democratic primary was meaningless:
70% of Nikki Haley voters in New Hampshire were not registered Republicans. pic.twitter.com/XNJSXMkBga
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) January 24, 2024
As it stands, the results are still rolling in and Donald Trump is still well on his way to the Republican nomination.
This is a developing story and will be updated…
