By Ashley Murray
States Newsroom
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley now has her eye on New Hampshire, where the nation’s second presidential nominating contest happens in just a week.
Haley finished third in Monday night’s Iowa caucuses, trailing close behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Former President Donald Trump sailed ahead early in the evening and retained a historic margin.
“I love you Iowa, but we’re onto New Hampshire,” Haley told a crowd in West Des Moines.
Haley won one Iowa county, Johnson County, by a single vote over Trump, according to the state’s Republican Party, which manages the contest.
The former South Carolina governor pulled 19.1% of the vote statewide with 90% precincts reporting just before 11 p.m. Central. Haley remained 2,356 votes behind DeSantis.
“The question before Americans is now very clear: Do you want more of the same or do you want a new generation of conservative leadership?” Haley told the crowd.
“I’ve spoken a lot of hard truths to America, and here’s another one: I voted for Donald Trump twice. I was proud to serve in his administration. But when I say ‘more of the same,’ you know what I’m talking about. It’s both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. They have more in common than you think,” Haley said, highlighting the candidates’ ages and federal spending during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Haley said her campaign is “the last best hope of stopping the Trump-Biden nightmare.”
“And as we head to New Hampshire I have one more thing to say: underestimate me because that’s always fun,” she said, repeating her campaign’s rallying cry.
The New Hampshire primary is Jan. 23, followed by the first-in-the-South primary in her home state Feb. 24.
Like S.C. Daily Gazette, Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence.
Ashley Murray covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include domestic policy and appropriations.
