Washington Examiner, January 2024
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) suspending his 2024 Republican presidential campaign has raised the stakes for former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley before New Hampshire’s primary on Tuesday as the last remaining candidate not named former President Donald Trump. But despite seeking a two-person race for the Republican Party’s nomination after Iowa’s caucuses, Haley is under pressure to outperform the polls before she has to compete in states where Trump is even more likely to win, including her home state of South Carolina.
DeSantis suspending his campaign “tips the playing field a little further toward Trump” before Tuesday, according to University of New Hampshire politics professor Dante Scala. “Don’t underestimate the power of peer pressure inside a political party,” Scala told the Washington Examiner. “One politician bends the knee, others follow suit.” Although Trump has an almost 20 percentage point advantage over Haley in New Hampshire, Haley projected confidence after DeSantis suspended his campaign, her aides even announcing events in South Carolina after Tuesday.
