U.S Election

Underdog Haley Gets One-on-One Race With Trump

Author: Editors Desk Source: WSJ:

January 22, 2024 at 10:09

Nikki Haley at an event in Exeter, N.H. JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES

Ron DeSantis’s exit from GOP field looks unlikely to shift many votes in her direction

DERRY, N.H.—Nikki Haley finally secured the one-on-one matchup against Donald Trump that she had long sought after Ron DeSantis dropped out of the Republican presidential nomination race two days before the New Hampshire primary. It might be too late.

The Florida governor, who endorsed the former president, wasn’t expected to be a significant factor in Tuesday’s GOP primary. A poll released Sunday showed him at 6% in the state.

Still, his exit offered Haley a bigger share of the limelight after she became the only major candidate in the race besides Trump. Her campaign had continually argued DeSantis had no path forward after heavily focusing on the first nomination contest in Iowa and finishing a distant second. But most polling suggests Trump will benefit more than Haley as the second choice for DeSantis supporters.

“It’s now one fella and one lady left,” Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador in the Trump administration, told supporters Sunday after DeSantis dropped out.