Trump has clear path to victory as DeSantis supporters back him

Donald Trump could be all but crowned the party’s nominee after Tuesday’s vote in New Hampshire – MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS

Donald Trump has a clear lead over Nikki Haley in the next Republican primary as pressure builds on his only remaining challenger.

The former president could be all but crowned the party’s nominee after Tuesday’s vote in New Hampshire, where the latest poll shows him 18 points ahead.

The gap is likely to be even wider as the Washington Post poll was taken before Ron DeSantis pulled out of the race. Many of his supporters will turn to Mr Trump, analysts suggest.

A second poll by CNN showed Mr Trump has the support of half of likely voters in the state, while Ms Haley has the support of 34 per cent.

Ms Haley shook off suggestions Mr Trump’s win was inevitable at a rally last night.

“America doesn’t do coronations,” she said.

Her campaign insisted it has seen an influx of donations since Mr DeSantis’s departure, reaching $500,000 (£393,000) in less than 24 hours.

The contest became a two-person race after Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, withdrew from the field on Sunday night, admitting he had “no clear path to victory”.

Many of Ron DeSantis’s supporters will turn to Donald Trump, analysts suggest – RON DESANTIS CAMPAIGN/REUTERS

Jim Merrill, the Republican strategist, said data suggested that his minimal support would likely trend towards Trump rather than Haley.

“For Nikki Haley, at this point, every vote counts,” he said.

Ms Haley has vowed to continue as “the last woman standing” on what now appears to be a quixotic quest.

“There’s two people in this race. That’s what we wanted all along. We’re going to keep on going,” she said.

Some polls had showed Ms Haley polling neck and neck with Mr Trump in New Hampshire. But Mr Trump’s dominance in the GOP race has strengthened since the Iowa caucuses on Jan 15.

New Hampshire, which goes second, offers Ms Haley’s best hopes of rallying an anti-Trump coalition to stave off his seemingly inexorable march to the nomination.

A moderate-leaning state with a large portion of educated voters, it is meant to be fertile ground for Ms Haley, who has centred her appeal on a moderate-establishment platform.

Around two-fifths of New Hampshire’s electorate are registered independents and are eligible to vote in the Republican primary.

But polls suggest Mr Trump’s voters are more motivated to turn out, and his team has deployed what one aide termed a “pincer” strategy to crush what they called her “unholy alliance” of support.

They have attacked her from both the Left and the Right, highlighting her support for raising the retirement age while also painting her as weak on China and immigration.

Ms Haley’s allies have already begun to temper expectations of a win in New Hampshire.

Chris Sununu, the state’s popular Republican governor, has argued she does not need to win the state for her campaign to remain viable.

She simply needs “a strong second” place, he told ABC News. “That’s the only expectation we ever laid out there,” he said, adding none of the upcoming early primaries were “must-win” states.

Yet there appears to be no remaining path for Ms Haley to pose a serious threat to Mr Trump.

National polls show the 77-year-old commands 66 per cent of the Republican Party’s voter base, according to aggregator FiveThirtyEight.

The next state where both candidates will appear on the ballot is Ms Haley’s native South Carolina on Feb 24, and where Mr Trump leads by 36 points.

He leads by similar margins in all of the remaining states leading to “Super Tuesday” on March 5, when more than a third of all delegates are up for grabs.

No intention of dropping out

Ms Haley’s team insist she has no intention of dropping out of the race, and have spent $4 million (£3.1 million) in advertising in South Carolina to go live on Wednesday.

Betsy Ankney, Ms Haley’s campaign manager, said “This is far from over”.

The 52-year-old has scheduled a rally in the southern state on Wednesday night, which her team have presented as her “official kick-off” in the state.

Ms Ankney said independent voters could continue to power Ms Haley’s bid, noting “two-thirds” of states voting on Super Tuesday “have open or semi-open primaries”.

But if Mr Trump continues on the current trajectory, he could have secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination by mid-March.

Ms Haley may want to quit the race before Feb 24 rather than risk a humiliating defeat in her home state, which could tarnish her reputation ahead of a second attempt at the White House in 2028.

Mr Trump has already demonstrated his strength in South Carolina by having senior elected Republicans in the state join him on stage in New Hampshire.

They include Tim Scott, a one-time presidential rival, whom Ms Haley appointed as a senator while she was South Carolina’s governor.

Jim Merrill, a New Hampshire-based strategist who has worked on several Republican presidential campaigns, said Mr Trump was in an “enviable position”.

“He’s the quasi-incumbent, and with all the benefits that come with that,” he told the Telegraph.

But he cautioned against writing Ms Haley off too soon. “Nikki Haley is stubborn, and so are the voters in New Hampshire,” he said.

He added: “If she wins New Hampshire or if she comes in a very close and competitive second, it’s hard to argue she should get out when she’s got her home state a month away.”

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