The New Hampshire primary is in the rearview mirror as the South Carolina primary approaches in February. Currently, the contest is strongest between two key candidates: Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden and Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump. So, where does the 2024 presidential election currently stand?
On Tuesday night, Jan. 23, in New Hampshire, Biden secured a significant victory through a write-in campaign, despite not appearing on the ballot due to new Democratic National Committee rules acknowledging South Carolina as the first Democratic primary race. However, he didn’t collect any delegates.
With 94% of the vote counted, Biden garnered nearly 54.8% of it, while his closest challenger, Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., only received 19.6%.
On the Republican side, Trump won with a double-digit lead over his rival, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Trump got 54% of the vote and Haley got 43%.
“And, you know, we have to do what’s good for our party,” Trump said in a speech after winning New Hampshire. “And [Haley] was up, and she was doing like a speech like she won. She didn’t win, she lost. And then I looked at the polls. She was talking about most win-ability, who is going to win. And I had one put up. I don’t know if you see it, but I had one put up. We’ve won almost every single poll in the last three months against crooked Joe Biden. Almost every poll. And she doesn’t win those polls!”
After suffering back-to-back losses to the former president, Haley acknowledged she lost New Hampshire but said she’s not throwing in the towel just yet.
“This race is far from over,” Haley said after acknowledging Trump’s win. “There are dozens of states left to go. And the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina! At one point in this campaign, there were 14 of us running, and we were at 2% in the polls. Well, I’m a fighter, and I’m scrappy, and 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 way to go, but we keep moving up.”
Haley is hoping to move up to a firs-place win in her home state when South Carolina holds its Republican primary on Feb. 24. Democrats will hold their first primary of the season in South Carolina on Feb. 3.
In a recent state poll highlighted by the Wall Street Journal, Haley is trailing Trump by 30 percentage points.
Several prominent Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, whom Haley appointed to the U.S. Senate while she was governor of South Carolina, are both endorsing Trump. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is also endorsing Trump.
However, according to a memo sent out by Haley’s campaign, the team is banking on staying in the race until at least Super Tuesday, which will take place on March 5 this year. Sixteen states will hold their primaries, and 874 delegates are up for grabs.
“After Super Tuesday, we will have a very good picture of where this race stands,” the memo stated.
President Biden stated Tuesday night that it was “clear” Trump would be the Republican nominee.
“There was some history that was made tonight,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News after polls closed in New Hampshire. “We’ve never had a nominee in our party that has won without winning either Iowa or New Hampshire. Donald trump is the first, ever, to win both. I’m looking at the math and the path moving forward, and I don’t see it for Nikki Haley. I think she’s run a great campaign, but I do think there’s a message coming out from the voters which is very clear: we need to unite around our eventual nominee which is going to be Donald Trump.”