Trump Wins NH Primary By 11+%; 58K Write-In Biden; Haley Continues

CONCORD, NH — Former President Donald Trump won the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday by more than 11 percent of the vote over former United Nations ambassador and governor, Nikki Haley.

With more than 90 percent of the GOP ballots counted, Trump had more than 165,000 votes, while Haley earned about 131,000 votes.

President Joe Biden won the Democrat primary by write-in vote, with more than 58,000 writing in his name. U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips received more than 21,000 votes, about 20 percent.

The New York Times was the first to call the Republican presidential race just past 8 p.m. Not long after, NBC News called the Democrat presidential race for Biden.

Turnout for the GOP primary was slightly lower than predicted despite some communities running out of ballots. Turnout for the Democrat primary was slightly higher than predicted.

Statewide NH Results

Here are the unofficial results for the 2024 New Hampshire first-in-the-nation presidential primary. 10 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2024. Refresh for updates.

Republicans

• Donald Trump: 165,901
• Nikki Haley: 131,194
• Ron DeSantis: 2,074
• Chris Christie: 1,310
• Write-ins: 1,135
• Vivek Ramaswamy: 709
• Mike Pence: 358
• Ryan Binkley: 267
• Mary Maxwell: 252
• Tim Scott: 166
• Doug Burgum: 164
• Asa Hutchinson: 98
• Rachel Swift: 90
• Scott Ayers: 76
• Darius Mitchell: 60
• Glenn McPeters: 40
• Peter Jedick: 25
• Perry Johnson: 23
• David Stuckenberg: 22
• Scott Merrell: 19
• Donald Kjornes: 17
• Robert Carney: 15
• Hirsh Singh: 9
• John Castro: 8
• Samuel Sloan: 5

Democrats

• Joe Biden (confirmed write-ins): 58,115
• Dean Phillips: 21,434
• Unprocessed write-ins: 14,068
• Other write-ins: 6,979
• Marianne Williamson: 5,111
• Derek Nadeau: 1,230
• Vermin Supreme: 665
• John Vail: 515
• Donald Picard: 279
• Paperboy Prince: 231
• Mark Greenstein: 204
• Paul Lacava: 144
• Jason Palmer: 107
• President R. Boddie: 102
• Terrisa Bukovinac: 77
• Stephen Lyons: 76
• Gabriel Cornejo: 57
• Tom Koos: 54
• Armando Perez-Serrato: 51
• Star Locke: 50
• Frankie Lozada: 47
• Raymond Moroz: 41
• Richard Rist: 33
• Eban Cambridge: 28

Percentage reporting: 91 percent

The new “I Voted” stickers for 2024 were a big hit with voters this primary season. Credit: New Hampshire Secretary of State

According to unofficial results, Nikki Haley beat Trump in Concord by about 450 votes. She also won in North Hampton, while Trump won in Londonderry and Salem overwhelmingly.

At the Grappone Conference Center in Concord, she vowed to continue on, saying more states and voters deserved to be a part of the process and challenging Trump to debate.

“At one point in this campaign, there were 14 of us running, and we were at 2 percent in the polls,” she said. “Well, I’m a fighter. Now, we’re the last one standing next to Donald Trump, and today, we got close to half of the vote. We still have a ways to go, but we keep moving up.”

Democrats said they were proud of the write-in effort they organized for Biden.

“Tonight, we sent a message loud and clear that New Hampshire strongly stands behind Joe Biden and the progress he is making for our country,” said Donna Soucy, the Senate Democratic leader. “We showed that New Hampshire believes in the future of our democracy and the sanctity of our elections.”

State Rep. Matt Wilhelm, the House Democratic Leader, agreed, saying the eyes of the entire world were on the state.

“This wasn’t easy,” he said. “But no matter what was thrown our way, this mighty team of volunteers rallied, and we mobilized to deliver an overwhelming win for President Joe Biden in New Hampshire — with almost twice as many Democrats voting in the primary compared to 2012.”

According to exit polling, Republican voters said illegal immigration was the most critical issue facing the nation. They also said the United States needed “a complete and total upheaval.”

Haley ran strong in liberal enclaves like the Upper Valley and Grafton County as well as Carroll County. In contrast, turnout for Trump ran strongest in conservative and rural areas of the state, including Cheshire and Belknap counties, by nearly 15 percent, as well as 10-point leads in Strafford County, Hillsborough County, and Rockingham County. Seventy percent of voters who cast ballots for Haley were not Republicans, according to exit polling data.

In a statement, Biden voters thanked his supporters, calling the write-in effort “a historic demonstration of commitment to our democratic process.” He said the stakes “could not be higher,” but he was grateful to independents and Republicans “who share our commitment to core values of our nation — our democracy, our personal freedoms, an economy that gives everyone a fair shot — to join us as Americans.”

How It All Began

When filing for New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary ended in mid-November 2023, there were 43 candidates on the ballot.

For months before, there were at least a dozen Republicans who were being taken seriously. But like in past years, only a handful could climb out of the single digits in polling or get to broader audiences on the national debate stages. And one by one, across months, the herd was thinned to the point where two, Trump and his former United Nations ambassador and a past governor of South Carolina, were the frontrunners before ballots were cast in the Granite State on Tuesday.

For Democrats, the incumbent president, Biden, chose not to participate in both Iowa and New Hampshire, due to the states being too white.

But challenges from his left flank, including U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who spent millions of dollars on his effort, and Marianne Williamson, a self-help guru, who garnered 99 votes in the 2020 primary because she withdrew just before the voting took place, led to Democrats in the state to organize a write-in effort for the incumbent.

The win by Trump makes him the first presidential candidate to win the first-in-the-nation presidential primary three times in the modern era. The only other candidate to win three times was Richard Nixon.

The lack of Biden on the ballot and no write-in effort could have led to a humiliating loss for the president, unseen since March 1968, when then-President Lyndon Johnson barely won the primary, 50 to 42, against U.S. Sen. Eugene McCarthy, the only other candidate on the ballot.

In late October 2023, more than 40 elected Democrats, including every state Senator, and dozens of former officials launched the write-in effort.

Democrats were warned by their national committee that the results of the primary were meaningless, which led the attorney general to issue a warning calling the comments voter suppression.

There was also a write-in effort of “Ceasefire” to raise awareness about the Israel-Gaza war in the Middle East, while former U.S. Sen. Gordon Humphrey spent money to boost college turnout.

Secretary of State Dave Scanlan predicted about 410,000 voters would cast ballots during the presidential primary, with 322,000 casting Republican ballots and 88,000 taking a Democrat ballot.

Between mid-September and Oct. 7, 2023, slightly less than 5,000 voters changed their party affiliation, according to Scanlan’s office. Slightly more than 400 Democrats changed to Republican while more than 3,500 changed to “undeclared,” the state’s non-party designation. Seventy-eight Republicans switched to Democrats, while 719 Republicans switched to undeclared. Forty-one undeclared voters began Democrats, while 132 became Republicans.

Undeclared voters in New Hampshire can choose either ballot.

Haley won the Dixville Notch early voting, 6-0, in the first ballots cast for the primary.

As the polls opened on Tuesday, voting was reported to be light to moderate around the state.

At one point in Concord, only supporters of the write-in Biden effort were seen at the polls. Later in the morning, Trump and Haley supporters, as well as a single pro-Palestinian sign holder, were seen.

Gov. Chris Sununu, who was toying with a presidential run himself, spent the morning with Haley in the southern part of the state after pouring beers with her at T-Bones in Concord. Members of Trump’s family were in Nashua and Pelham while other surrogates, former candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, was in Windham, and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, campaigned in Raymond.

But by late afternoon, some, including New Hampshire GOP Chairman Chris Ager, suggested turnout might be lower due to the lack of candidates in the final sprint.

The latest Suffolk University tracking poll shows Trump expanding his lead over Haley, 59.6 percent to 37.8 percent. The RealClear Politics average of polls published in New Hampshire across many months has the former president leading by 19.3 percent.

Haley sent a press statement to media outlets that she will be hosting a “First-in-the-South” rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday night, indicating she will not concede on Tuesday regardless of the outcome.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also reported collecting more than 3,000 signatures to access the general election ballot.

“I want to thank our dedicated supporters and volunteers who made this great accomplishment possible,” he said. “Democracy is much more than voting. I’m inspired by how enthusiastic people are to collect signatures, create new political parties, and rally for real change. This kind of energy is what will get us onto the ballot in every state and fuel our voter registration and GOTV operation as we head toward election day.”

The signatures will have to be confirmed by local and state election officials. Kennedy has gained ballot access in Utah and has filed paperwork in California, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas.

Would you happen to have a news tip? Please send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Check out the #FITN2024 NH Patch post channel and follow our politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.