Will Haley win New Hampshire? What happens next? USC Political Science professor weighs in
COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — At the time of this posting, polls for the New Hampshire Republican Primary will be closed in a matter of minutes. The question remains, will Former Governor Nikki Haley pull off a win?
Political Science Professor at the University of South Carolina Dr. Kirk Randazzo says while it may be an uphill battle for Haley, a win is still possible, with her campaign having spent a lot of time and resources in New Hampshire, particularly among independent voters.
“If she wins, this is huge. Even if she loses but comes within five or six points, that’s still huge. That carries her at least to South Carolina, probably to Super Tuesday. And that’s what she’s hoping for. Even if she’s limping, if she can limp into Super Tuesday, that might be enough to jump start things, but she has to have a strong showing tonight,” he says.
Haley addressed reporters in New Hampshire Tuesday morning.
“This has always been a marathon. It’s never been a sprint. We wanted to be strong in Iowa, we want to be strong in New Hampshire, we’re going to be even stronger than that in SC. We’re running the tape,” Haley says.
Randazzo believes Former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles could cause Super Tuesday in March to not be the deciding moment that it typically is.
“States that are later in the cue will have more information revealed about the evidence against Donald Trump, the allegations against Donald Trump, and that might be enough to start swaying later states to vote in favor of another candidate,” Randazzo says.
A Trump conviction could lead to another possible shakeup at the Republican Convention, and give Haley another chance at the nomination.
“And so that’s gonna put the delegates in a very difficult position. They’re going to have to ask themselves, regardless of what happens in the primary, do I really want to cast a vote for a candidate that has been both indicted and potentially convicted. That’s going to be hard for the Republican Convention to reconcile. In which case there is still an outside chance that Nikki Haley could secure the nomination regardless of what happens in the primaries,” Randazzo says.
In a Trump/Biden rematch, Randazzo predicts that Trump will likely lose again, saying, “And it won’t just be the White House. They’re going to lose downstream as well. And you know, then they’re going to have a lot of reckoning to do. A lot of soul searching to do. To figure out what they want to be in a post trump environment.”
