NH Wrap-Up: Trump Won With Record Numbers, Biden Got Embarrassed, Bad Donor News for Haley

Former President Donald Trump won the New Hampshire Republican primary on Tuesday. He beat Nikki Haley by double digits, with about an 11-point lead. That's his second very decisive win following Iowa.

I noted last night the difference in the voters for Trump and Haley. Trump won with 70 percent of the people registered as Republicans in the primary and 27 percent undeclared, while Haley lost with the reverse percentage, 27 percent Republicans and 70 percent undeclared.

Then, there was also the problem of the majority of the people voting in the Republican primary not being registered Republicans. Fifty-three percent were either Democrats (eight percent) or undeclared (45 percent). On top of that, there were reports of people voting for Haley to try to make things difficult for Trump and the Republicans, a strategy previously suggested by people like David Plouffe. Despite that, Trump still won, which showed his strength and what trouble Biden might be in come the general election.

Yikes: Steve Kornacki Explains Just How Many 'Republicans' Voted in NH Republican Primary

But there are a few more interesting data points to take away from the primary.

First, a record number came out for the GOP primary — more than 320,000. Trump won 54 percent, a commanding majority with 166,000 votes — the most votes won by a candidate in a New Hampshire primary, Democrat or Republican, ever. Trump also did better in this primary than in 2016 in virtually every town by mostly double-digit margins. So, for example, he did almost 20 points better in Concord, Nashua, and Manchester.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden got embarrassed by the numbers after the DNC played games with the primaries.

The DNC officially designated South Carolina first, thinking Biden would do better there. But New Hampshire refused to delay their primary because of that, so Biden wasn't on the ballot, and New Hampshire's delegates won't count toward the nomination. But some Democrats mounted a write-in campaign for Biden so his numbers wouldn't look so bad.

Then there was the question of how many played into this undeclared (but left) who were reportedly voting for Haley to hurt Trump and Republicans. Kornacki's report pointed out the percentages. But that may have contributed to the lower number for Biden.

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), Biden's main challenger, outlined what he thought would be good for him and bad for Biden at the end of the day.

Phillips told NBC News: "If we’re in the '20s, that would be extraordinary."
But Phillips said Biden should be disappointed with anything less than the 81% or 84% won by former Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton when they ran for re-election in 2012 and 1996, respectively.

Now, it's hard to judge it against norms given the situation, but at just after 11:00 p.m. on Jan. 24, Phillips is just under 20 at 19.9 percent.

Meanwhile, Biden is only at 72 percent, even if you count all the remaining unprocessed write-in votes.

pic.twitter.com/lI044z0zRQ
— Dr. Nickarama (@nickaramaOG) January 25, 2024

That looks pretty embarrassing to me.

Finally, there's some bad news for Haley and donors, given her performance in New Hampshire.

According to a report, LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman is pausing giving any more money to Haley. He had given $250,000 to a PAC for her last year. Hoffman had made clear in December he supported Biden, but he was helping Haley against Trump. So again, this is another example of Democrats trying to sway the Republican primary. Hoffman is a long-term Democratic donor who was friends with Jeffrey Epstein.

On top of that:

A Republican fundraiser told CNBC on Wednesday that three clients who each helped Haley raise up to $100,000 for her campaign are now opting out of further financial efforts for the former United Nations ambassador.
Other fundraisers said Wednesday said that while they plan to speak out publicly in support of Haley, they are not convinced that they will be able to raise much money for her campaign because of her 0-for-2 record so far.

If Haley loses South Carolina, expect more of that, and right now, she's 30 points behind in her home state according to the RCP average.