The Republican Primary.

Adrian Olivier,

For anti-Trump Republicans, New Hampshire was their chance to break “the Don’s” hold on the Republican Party and show themselves as an alternative.

With Trump dominant in Iowa, and breaking records, presidential hopefuls Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis hit the ground running and spending big.

The former United Nations ambassador and the current Governor of Florida spent most of their time attacking each other in Iowa, leaving Trump somewhat unscathed coming out of the caucus.  

With both non-Trump candidates having significant war chests and New Hampshire’s history of political upsets, it was reasoned this was the state to beat Trump.

Two days before the Primary election, DeSantis dropped out, citing his inability to see a clear path to victory, he said in a video on X.

In Haley’s words, that left the primary a race with “one fella and one lady left.”

Some, like Democrat-leaning Dottie Fannon and her husband, who voted for Biden in the last presidential election, supported Haley in the primary.

Her reasoning for voting Haley was “anyone but Trump,” Fannon said.

The largest proportion of voters in the state are unregistered, according to Independent Voter Project, and unregistered voters are allowed to vote in the Republican Primary.

These were the voters Nikki Haley was targeting, and the results showed she won six in 10 independent voters, according to a CNN exit poll.

More importantly for the Republican nomination, she lost 75 percent of registered Republicans according to the same CNN poll.

For registered Republicans, Haley represented a return to an inauthentic Republican Party.

Her campaign volunteers tried to jinn up support ahead of Haley’s appearance with chanting, but it was nothing like the thunderous applause at a Trump rally.

At a rally, Haley trotted out retired Brigadier General Don Bolduc, a two-time losing Republican Senate candidate, who Haley described as “as conservative as they come,” as a military endorsement.

Joseph Jacobs a registered Republican and union worker questioned her integrity and her global standing.

“You know, she can be bought and paid for, and that’s one of the biggest things,” said Jacobs.

For that reason, Jacobs voted for Trump.

When it comes to the Middle East, Jacobs didn’t think she would be respected: “I don’t think they would take her seriously because in the Middle East, she’s a woman and women are property,” Jacobs said.

Trump would be more respected: “They’re terrified of the guy.  I don’t like how he speaks.  I think he’s an arrogant asshole. But he’s a strong leader,” Jacobs said.

“I’m union. Unions traditionally, we’re all told to vote Democrat.  Our union’s pissed because 90 percent of us vote Republican because it’s more in line with our ideals,” said Jacobs.

“Trump is not good for unions. He’s a union buster.  You’ve seen that in Jersey, you know, with all his projects and stuff, but he’s good for the economy, which indirectly is good for the unions,” said Jacobs.

Ryan Cady, a registered Republican voter in Nashua, N.H. said he was voting for Trump “because the rest are scumbags,” Cady said.

His opinion on Haley? “Who’s Nikki Haley? Isn’t her name Nimrata Randhawa?,” Cady said.

Tyler Landry, a registered Republican voter in Nashua, N.H. said “Honestly, America First is the biggest issue. We’ve been put last. Especially here in our own country.  The way the border situation is, it’s not tenable.”  

Within 10 minutes of the last polling station closing, the Associated Press had called it for Trump.

Trump won the state by 11 points.

So much for an upset.