Victorious Trump Sets New Hampshire Primary Vote Record

Former President Donald Trump planted the MAGA flag in New Hampshire Tuesday with a resounding victory in the nation’s first primary. His domination was so complete that he set the record for receiving the most votes in the history of the traditional kickoff event.

Trump’s only remaining challenger Nikki Haley could only watch as Trump flew past the old high water mark reached by Bernie Sanders in 2016.

The 45th president hauled in 163,700 votes as of 7:46 a.m. EST on Wednesday. This accounted for 54.5% of the total, far outpacing Haley’s 43.2% and 129,646 votes registered.

Trump and Haley are the last two standing in the Republican race for the top of the 2024 ticket. Trump’s dominance is so complete that recent weeks saw all but one rival bow out.

The former South Carolina governor had her sights set on creating an anti-Trump coalition, and New Hampshire was to be her launching point. But the disappointing showing in a state where she went all in only signaled the strength of Trump’s grassroots support.

New Hampshire’s notoriously independent voters — note the 2016 Sanders turnout — were supposed to sway the GOP race toward the moderate Haley. But that proved to be a mirage as Trump continued his march toward November.

Haley, however, stopped far short of a concession speech when her defeat became apparent.

She assured a crowd of her supporters that “this race is far from over.”

Trump, of course, was having none of her bluster. He noted she “ran up to the stage all dressed up nicely when it was at seven, but now I just walked up it’s at 14.”

The frontrunner declared, “She was up and I said wow, she’s doing a speech like she won. She didn’t, she lost. You can’t let people get away with [expletive].”

Haley persisted, however, as she addressed a party in Concord Tuesday night. Challenging Trump to a debate, she asserted, “I’m a fighter. And I’m scrappy. And now we’re the last one standing next to Donald Trump.”

But hers is a decidedly uphill battle. When the dust settled, Trump was the first Republican presidential candidate to secure competitive votes in both Iowa and New Hampshire since 1976.

That was the year the two established their first-in-the-nation status in the nominating process. For the record, Trump also set a record in winning Iowa.