Nikki Haley’s support from New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu on Tuesday night could help her GOP presidential campaign even more in a key early state.
The support was made public at a town hall meeting. In the past few weeks, Haley has been doing better in state and national polls as she vies for the Republican presidential nomination.
Sununu introduced Haley at the event and said, “I saw an older woman coming in here. She was coming to a lot of events.” “And she asked, ‘Are you finally going to back Nikki Haley for president?'” I’m sure of it!”
His words, “We are all in on Nikki Haley,” were clear.
Three people close to Sununu told NBC News early Tuesday that he would support Haley. A TV station in New Hampshire called WMUR was the first to report that Sununu was going to support Haley.
There was no chance that Sununu would support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis before the endorsement. This comes at a time when some Republicans are trying to get more people to support a candidate other than former President Donald Trump in the GOP election.
In New Hampshire, Haley has done well, always coming in second to Trump in the polls.
Haley might get a boost from Sununu’s support, especially as she tries to make a strong case that she can go beyond Iowa. People in New Hampshire like Sununu, who is very against Trump and has thought about running for president himself.
For months, Haley has been placing in second place in the New Hampshire primary. However, in the last two public polls of the state, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has also gained 10 percent of the vote. Both candidates have been doing well with moderate and independent voters who plan to vote in the GOP primary.
Being backed by Sununu could help Haley bring the group together and get closer to Trump before the Jan. 23 primary, even though Trump has long had large leads in the state’s polls.
But it’s also not clear how much endorsements can matter in places where people vote early. A recent study by NBC News found that Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ support for DeSantis didn’t make a big difference among people who might go to the caucuses.
NBC News asked Haley how sure she was that Sununu’s support would help him more than Reynolds’ support did for DeSantis. “Let’s see what happens,” she said. “I believe it will be good.”
She also said, “We won’t know until the time comes.”
When asked if he’d be interested in running with Haley, Sununu said, “Hard pass.” I only want to assist.
It was the New Hampshire Democratic Party who said that Sununu and Haley were “MAGA extremists who spent years cozying up to Donald Trump.”
“Both Sununu and Haley have signed strict abortion bans that don’t make an exception for rape or incest. They have also backed well-known election deniers like Don Bolduc, the Republican who lost the New Hampshire Senate race to Maggie Hassan, railed against important programs like the Affordable Care Act, and pushed for tax cuts for the very rich that hurt working families.” It was made very clear that their plan was not moderate, fair, or electable, as the statement said.