CONCORD, New Hampshire — The results Tuesday night showed Nikki Haley losing the first-in-the-nation primary to Donald Trump, but her fans didn’t see it that way.

Many guests at Haley’s watch party in the state capital were all smiles and expressed a sense of pride in her accomplishment.

“I think she showed how weak Donald Trump is. I think tonight was a defeat for Donald Trump,” enthused voter John Shaw, 64, from Hampton. “This is round one.”

Haley was quick to declare moral victory, hitting the stage to speak to supporters moments after media outlets called the race for Trump and soon after the last polls closed at 8 p.m.

The TV feed in the main ballroom at the Grappone Conference Center was rapidly cut off after Haley’s speech and the 52-year-old’s supporters had headed home long before late results from rural areas of the Granite State pushed the 77-year-old Trump’s margin into double digits.

READ MORE

Early Tuesday morning, Nikki Haley’s campaign tried to keep hope alive with a statement full of bravado and a pledge to keep going beyond New Hampshire.

The statement’s implicit acceptance of defeat turned out to be true, but it was hardly a close race and her decision to continue reflects more hope than reality.

Yet while Haley lives to fight Donald Trump another day, the road only gets harder from here. She had the endorsement of the Granite State’s popular governor, Republican Chris Sununu, and feasted on the votes of non-Republicans, advantages that will be almost impossible to repeat.

Still, she did well enough to forestall the media ritual of an autopsy of why and where it all went wrong. The insiders who can be counted on to spill gossipy details about how the once-promising effort lost its way will be put on hold.

But make no mistake: there is little reason to believe her train is bound for glory. Trump appears to be unstoppable as he aims to make history by winning the GOP nomination for the third time.

READ MORE

Remember earlier today when our reporters noted volunteers collecting signatures to get Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the New Hampshire ballot?

Well, the campaign says it succeeded.

Under New Hampshire law, candidates who wish to run for president from a third party must submit nomination papers with the signature of at least 3,000 registered voters -- 1,500 from each of the Granite State's two congressional districts.

The signatures must be checked by local officials before Aug. 7 and must be handed in to the secretary of state's office by close of business Sept. 4.

“I want to thank our dedicated supporters and volunteers who made this great accomplishment possible,” Kennedy said. “Democracy is much more than voting. I’m inspired by how enthusiastic people are to collect signatures, create new political parties, and rally for real change. This kind of energy is what will get us onto the ballot in every state and fuel our voter registration and GOTV operation as we head toward election day.”

RFK Jr. is currently confirmed for the ballot in only one state -- Utah -- but his campaign has said it intends to appear in all 50 states and the District of Columbia on Nov. 5.

Donald Trump’s victory over Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary makes it “clear” that he’ll go on to be the Republican nominee, President Biden said in a statement Tuesday night. 

“It is now clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee,” the 81-year-old president said. “And my message to the country is the stakes could not be higher. Our Democracy. Our personal freedoms — from the right to choose to the right to vote. Our economy — which has seen the strongest recovery in the world since COVID. All are at stake.”

Biden also thanked Granite State Democrats who supported the write-in campaign to put him over the top in New Hampshire, where his name didn't appear on the ballot. 

“It was a historic demonstration of commitment to our democratic process,” the president said. “And I want to say to all those Independents and Republicans who share our commitment to core values of our nation — our Democracy, our personal freedoms, an economy that gives everyone a fair shot — to join us as Americans.”

“Let’s remember," Biden’s statement concluded. "We are the United States of America. And there is nothing — nothing — we can’t do if we do it together."

New Hampshire and Iowa are two very different places, but Republican primary and caucus voters in both states were similarly aligned in handing former President Donald Trump two victories in the leadoff nominating contests, exit polls show.

As in Iowa, a plurality of New Hampshire GOPers (42%) considered immigration the most important issue in the 2024 race — and Trump won that group by a margin of more than three-to-one over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (73% to 22%), according to the Fox News Voter analysis.

The former president also bested Haley by double digits (53% to 40%) among the 31% of Granite State voters who said the economy and jobs were the most important issues.

As predicted, Haley won big among Republican New Hampshire primary voters who considered themselves independent and Democratic-leaning.

Undeclared voters made up 13% of the GOP primary electorate, and went for Haley over Trump by a count of 60% to 33%.

READ MORE

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.)  was in high spirits Tuesday night after receiving about 20% of the vote in New Hampshire’s Democratic presidential primary.

“We earned 20% tonight and no one knew who we were 10 weeks ago – nobody,” Phillips told his supporters. 

The Minnesota Democrat went on to congratulate President Biden, who prevailed in the Granite State primary despite his name not appearing on the ballot, and praise Nikki Haley for staying in the race despite her loss to former President Donald Trump. 

“Congratulations to President Biden, who absolutely won tonight but by no means in a way that a strong incumbent president should,” Phillips said.  

“I want to celebrate Nikki Haley for the tenacity she has to stay in this race and still try to take [Trump] down because I think we need to,” he continued.

“Having her in the race and me in the race could be the most important decisions for us in our lifetimes,” Phillips added, arguing that the “exhausted majority” want to see a “Nikki Haley-Dean Philips matchup this November.”  

Phillips ended his speech by vowing  to remain in the race for the duration of the Democratic primaries. 

“We’re going to go to South Carolina," the 55-year-old declared, "and then we’re going to go to Michigan and then we’re going to go to 47 other states."

Trump took several shots at Haley in his victory speech, saying the former South Carolina governor must "really hate" Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and was trying to "get away with bulls---" by prolonging her candidacy.

"Did you ever think that, she actually appointed you, Tim?" Trump said, turning to look at Scott over his shoulder. "And -- think of it -- appointed, and you're the senator of the state, and she endorsed me. You must really hate her."

The former president confused the endorsements, since Haley has not endorsed him but Scott has.

"I just love you," Scott said, sidling up beside Trump to speak into the microphone.

"That's why he's a great politician," Trump said back, before discussing his ground game in Nevada and the Palmetto State.

"I find in life you can't let people get away with bulls---," he said, jabbing at Haley while inflating his own polling numbers in the South Carolina contest. "OK? You can't. You just can't do that."

CONCORD, New Hampshire — Nikki Haley's team scoffed at Donald Trump's victory speech.

“Two states have now voted in the presidential race, and Donald Trump barely received half of the vote – not exactly a ringing endorsement for a former president demanding a coronation,” Haley communications director Nachama Soloveichik said in a statement.

“His angry rant was filled with grievances and offered the American people nothing about his vision for our country’s future. This is why so many voters want to move on from Trump’s chaos and are rallying to Nikki Haley’s new generation of conservative leadership.”

Trump tore into Haley for sticking in the race and even dangled the specter of an investigation against her should he win back the presidency. Despite losing, Haley expressed satisfaction with her performance and vowed to soldier on.

NASHUA, New Hampshire -- Trump supporters at his election night watch party openly mused about possible running mate picks as they headed out into the relatively mild evening.

Some overheard possibilities included Kari Lake, Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

As supporters were dispersing from the Sheraton hotel, The Post heard one couple speak about the possibility of MTG, who was standing on the stage right behind Trump during his speech tonight.

Nevada’s unprecedented system for selecting the Republican nominee for president is setting up a stumbling block for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

For the first time, the Silver State is holding both a government-run primary election on Feb. 6 and a caucus two days later, run by the Nevada Republican Party.

Haley is the only major GOP candidate signed up for the primary ballot, meaning she will likely win – but receive no delegates.

The confusing process sprung from objections by the Nevada Republican Party to a 2021 state law that made a primary election mandatory. Party officials responded by forcing candidates to choose between registering for the primary and caucus, and will only award delegates to the winner of the latter contest.

Haley elected to participate in the primary back in October, joined by former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) – both of whom have since dropped out of the race.

READ MORE

Trump rose to address his supporters in Nashua, who greeted him with cheers and shouts of "USA" after his victory over Haley.

“We won New Hampshire three times now,” he said, touting that he had also “won almost every single poll in the last three months against crooked Joe Biden.”

The former president then pivoted to criticizing Haley after dismissing her "threat" to his candidacy earlier on Tuesday.

“She didn’t win. She lost,” he told the crowd, as they erupted into chants of "bird brain," referencing his nickname for Haley.

“Who the hell was the impostor that went up on the stage that went before and claimed victory?” he said. “She did very poorly actually.”

He also hit New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu for having endorsed his challenger — "He's gotta be on something; I've never seen someone with energy" — before suggesting that Haley should suspend her campaign.

“Ron beat her also. Remember Ron came in second, and he left,” he added.

CONCORD, New Hampshire — Nikki Haley may have lost the Granite State to Donald Trump, but her enthusiastic backers here aren't quite seeing it as a total defeat.

"Tonight is a defeat for Donald Trump," John Shaw said.

"I think this is fantastic," David Sully told The Post. "This is very much the beginning. And there's 48 more states to go and definitely pushing forward."

"It should be taken with a grain of salt. I know technically, it's a loss, right?" Grace Puchalski, a volunteer said. "No one expected that you'd be like this ... now she's got a two-man race."

"Now she's headed with all of this energy behind her."

This was the mood tonight at Haley's watch party. Most of her supporters feel that tonight is just the beginning and that her chances are looking pretty bright.

Haley herself was adamant that this is just the beginning.