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HAMPTON, N.H. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spent part of Wednesday at this seaside community along the New Hampshire coast, making a pitch to voters six days ahead of the state’s Republican presidential primary.
“I’m asking for your support on Tuesday,” DeSantis told the crowd as he looked ahead to the New Hampshire primary, the first in the GOP nominating calendar and second overall contest after this week’s Iowa caucuses.
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But as the Florida governor was speaking to supporters and undecided voters, Fox News confirmed that the DeSantis campaign was in the process of moving the majority of its staff from Iowa to South Carolina rather than New Hampshire.
DeSantis came in a distant second in Iowa to former President Trump, the commanding front-runner in the GOP nomination race who crushed his rivals as he won 51% of the vote in Monday’s caucuses. DeSantis, who had spent most of his time and resources in Iowa, narrowly edged former United Nations Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for second place.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST POLL NUMBERS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE’S REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, speaks at an event in Hampton, New Hampshire, on Jan. 17, 2024.(Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)
But with polls indicating Haley a strong second to Trump and DeSantis a distant third in the single digits in New Hampshire — where moderates predominate and independent voters play a crucial role in the state’s storied presidential primary — the Florida governor is concentrating his efforts in the much more conservative South Carolina. The state holds the first southern contest in the Republican schedule on Feb. 24.
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TRUMP, HALEY, TURN UP VOLUME ON EACH OTHER AS GOP PRESIDENTIAL SLUGFEST MOVES TO NEW HAMPSHIRE
The governor’s team sees the move to South Carolina as a chance to take down Haley on her home court and knock her out of the race.
“When Nikki Haley fails to win her home state, she’ll be finished and this will be a two-person race,” DeSantis campaign communications director Andrew Romeo said in a statement. “We’re wasting no time in taking the fight directly to Haley on her home turf.”
Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley listens to 10-year-old Hannah Kesselering during a campaign stop in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, on Jan. 16, 2024.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A source in DeSantis’ political orbit told Fox News that “it’s all about South Carolina.”
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“They’re not completely giving up on New Hampshire. They are pursuing both states, but they’re really looking ahead to South Carolina,” the source added.
DeSantis headed home to Florida later on Wednesday. He will return to New Hampshire for at least three stops on Friday before campaigning Saturday and Sunday in South Carolina. DeSantis told reporters it’s “most likely” he’ll return to New Hampshire late Sunday or Monday, on the eve of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.
“He doesn’t want to write off New Hampshire publicly because that would mean his campaign is over,” longtime Republican consultant David Carney – who’s neutral in the 2024 nomination race – told Fox News. “They’ve got to go somewhere. They’ve still got more money to spend. So, they’ll make the case to go to South Carolina.”
IOWA’S OVER. NOW GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY FIGHT TURNS TO NEW HAMPSHIRE
Carney, a veteran of numerous presidential campaigns and a New Hampshire resident, said that “it’s a good strategy – see what you can get out of South Carolina. And pretend you are campaigning in New Hampshire. If you’re absent for the entire week, your campaign is dead.”
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Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett, who splits his time between New Hampshire and the nation’s capital, said DeSantis is “going through the motions. I applaud him and his team for doing it, but I think they would have been far better served doing this in the long hot summer rather than the waning days before the New Hampshire primary when the cake is baked.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, poses for a photo with a supporter in Hampton, New Hampshire, on Jan. 17, 2024.(Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)
The two events DeSantis held in New Hampshire on Wednesday were organized by the aligned super PAC Never Back Down, which has taken over many of the traditional responsibilities of a presidential campaign.
But as DeSantis was on the campaign trail on Tuesday, Never Back Down trimmed operations, laying off some staff, including nearly the entire ‘war room’ team, Fox News confirmed. The news was first reported by the New York Times.
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Making his case to New Hampshire voters in Hampton, DeSantis didn’t address the new emphasis being placed on South Carolina. And he didn’t take questions from reporters after the event.
Neither the DeSantis campaign nor aligned super PACs have run TV spots in New Hampshire in two months, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact.
While the South Carolina strategy may allow DeSantis to live to fight another day, it plays into Haley’s argument that the GOP nomination is becoming a two-person race.
“When you look at how we’re doing in New Hampshire, in South Carolina and beyond, I can safely say tonight Iowa made this Republican primary a two-person race,” Haley said in West Des Moines on Monday night after finishing third in the Hawkeye State.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
The 2026 individual Vermont High School tennis tournaments concluded on Sunday, May 31 with a quartet of first-time winners.
Both girls match-ups went to a third set tiebreak with Essex senior Hannah Knickerbocker capturing her elusive title. Burlington High School swept the boys singles and doubles tournaments becoming the first school to accomplish that feat since St. Johnsbury did it in 2019.
Read on below for a recap from both tournaments’ finals.
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Hannah Knickerbocker upsets top-seed in final; while Stowe’s freshman tandem wins doubles
In the last two individual tournaments, Hannah Knickerbocker advanced to the semifinals before her run ended there. This past offseason, Knickerbocker spent a lot more time honing her tennis skills. With a stronger tennis IQ, Knickerbocker cruised into the finals with a trio of straight set wins.
“Consistency and shot choice,” Knickerbocker said. “I think I improved with knowing when to go for a win and when not too.”
There Knickerbocker earned a match with No. 1 seeded Anna Dauerman from Champlain Valley, the 2024 champion and last year’s runner-up. The match was competitive with Knickerbocker winning a three-set thriller 6-4, 4-6, 10-8, becoming the first female Hornet to win an individual title since 2007.
The skills Knickerbocker worked on in the offseason paid off in her match against Dauerman.
“Anna’s a really hard fighter so a lot of balls come back and if you go for too much on the wrong one then she would beat you,” Knickerbocker said.
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This is Knickerbocker’s fifth state title overall after winning the Division I girls volleyball championships all four years of high school. The 2024 Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year in volleyball is pivoting to a stronger focus on tennis. Knickerbocker will be playing Division I tennis at the University of New Haven starting next school year.
While Knickerbocker saw this part of her career end on a high note, the doubles champions of India Freund and Belle Gaines from Stowe hope to usher in a new wave of tennis talent. The freshmen tandem, partnered up for the first time this season for the individual tournament and won three straight matches to reach the final.
Then in the championship, Freund and Gaines took down Champlain Valley’s tandem of Sara DiGuglielmo and Justyna Amblo in three sets, 7-6 (7-3), 0-6, 12-10. The duo built on the momentum they gained from their three-set victory over Essex’s team into May 31’s final.
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“We both like high-pressure situations, so maybe that’s what we needed to play our best tennis,” Freund said.
Freund and Gaines are great friends on and off the court who play tennis together all year around making this a tandem a formidable duo. Freund and Gaines showed maturity after getting crushed in the second set to squeeze out the win in the tiebreaker.
“It was really impressive of us to not get in our heads and it did for a bit,” Gaines said.
Burlington sweeps the boys singles and doubles finals
The boys tennis had some drama with rain forcing an interruption of the matches’ at Leddy Park to drive over to the The EDGE Sports & Fitness in Essex. Still the pause (that was almost two hours for the double players) did not affect the players in the lead.
No. 3 Niah LeMay held a 4-2 lead in set 1 entering the weather related intermission against teammate and top-ranked Oscar Crainich. LeMay did not let the pause phase him or interrupt his momentum.
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“Just a lot of deep breaths and tried not to think about it,” LeMay said. “I turned on the radio and listened to some music.”
The sophomore bested his teammate in straight sets with a 6-3, 7-5 victory. In his run to the title, LeMay knocked off the top-two seeds. The only set he has lost all season came against No. 2 Charles Young from Middlebury in the semifinals. LeMay brought the energy with passionate bursts of emotion after nailing a tough shot.
LeMay becomes the first male Seahorse to win an individual title since 2004. It’s the first time since 2015 that the singles final featured two members from the same school. LeMay and Crainich have been rotating between the No. 1 and No. 2 single spots for Burlington this year after helping the Seahorses capture the 2025 team title.
“I have only beaten him once in the past,” LeMay said. “It felt really good to beat him since he’s one of my main competitors if not my main competitor.”
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The winning for Burlington did not stop at singles. The Seahorses No. 3 ranked doubles tandem of Miles Kenny and Ben Koh captured the championship as well sweeping No. 1 Middlebury Nate Cook-Yoder and Nathan Stefani 6-4, 7-5.
The weather pause came after the Seahorses claimed the first set. It’s the second straight year Burlington claimed the doubles title. This is Kenny and Koh’s second championship this spring after helping Burlington win the 2026 Unified Basketball title earlier in May.
Contact Judith Altneu at JAltneu@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.
When Priscilla R. Mafalda left for Florida last week, she sounded exhausted but happy.
“Friend, I’m very tired, but thank God I’m finally taking some vacation time. I’m going to Florida,” she told her work friend, Thaiz Ramos, on Thursday.
Ramos said Mafalda promised she would call when she arrived.
“I am still waiting for that call,” Ramos said Sunday afternoon, “because part of me still cannot believe she is gone.”
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Mafalda, 25, of Worcester, was identified over the weekend as the fifth person killed in the devastating Interstate 95 crash in Virginia that also claimed the lives of four members of the Doncev family from Greenfield, Massachusetts. Authorities said Mafalda was traveling in a separate vehicle, a Chevrolet Suburban, when it was struck by a passenger bus that failed to slow for traffic near a work zone.
Friends say Mafalda, who was born in Inhapim, Brazil, had built a life in Massachusetts. A GoFundMe, which refers to her as Priscilla Ramos, no relation to Thaiz Ramos, was created after her death and says relatives are raising money to return her body to Brazil for burial.
The GoFundMe said that her husband, Igor Ernesto, was also in the vehicle and hospitalized. Mafalda’s family and GoFundMe organizers could not immediately be reached for comment.
By Sunday , over $14,000 was raised.
Ramos worked with Mafalda for years at a Massachusetts house-cleaning company. She described her as “one of the kindest and hardest-working people I have ever known.”
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Virginia State Police said the crash happened around 2:35 a.m. Friday in Stafford County, when a bus traveling from New York to North Carolina struck slowed traffic near a work zone, setting off a chain-reaction collision impacting Mafalda’svehicle. It forced her vehicle into the Doncev family’s Acura SUV and several others. The bus driver has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, with additional charges pending.
This is a developing story.
Sarah Rahal can be reached at sarah.rahal@globe.com. Follow her on X @SarahRahal_ or Instagram @sarah.rahal.
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates made a recent move to their rotation, which has resulted in a surprising move from one player.
The Pirates announced that they placed right-handed pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski on the restricted list and recalled right-handed pitcher Cam Sanders from Triple-A Indianapolis ahead of their series finale vs. the Minnesota Twins at PNC Park on May 31.
A player going on the restricted list means that they either left the team without a valid reason, or could be announcing retirement, but may consider returning in the near future to play later on.
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It is a shocking decision, as there was no indication something like this was happening and makes a big change to the Pirates pitching staff moving forward.
Why Pirates May Have Placed Mlodzinski on Restricted List
This case with Mlodzinski is likely the former, although not confirmed, as he was in the clubhouse ahead of the game, so something may have happened closer to first pitch.
Pirates manager Don Kelly announced postgame in the 10-9 win on May 30 that Mlodzinski would follow right-handed starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft in the series finale.
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Mlodzinski was a part of the Pirates starting rotation for the first two months of the season, but Jared Jones recently came off the injured list and took his role in the rotation, with the Pirates sending Mlodzinski back to the bullpen.
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May 29, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jared Jones (17) delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
He said following the decision that he would talk with his agency and those close to him, so he may have decided to depart the team after this.
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“Obviously just excited to have Jared back with us,” Mlodzinski said. “I can honestly say I’m just still communicating with the organization and the people in my corner, whether that’s my family or my agency, about what is next. I really don’t have any comments after that.”
How This Changes Pirates Pitching Staff
Mlodzinski has been an effective relief pitcher with the Pirates, with a 2.63 ERA over 140.1 innings pitched and 94 appearances.
The Pirates had plans for Mlodzinski as a bulk reliever, but someone that can also fill any role, including in high-leverage situations and as a middle reliever, something the team has seriously needed.
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May 25, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski (50) throws a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
His departure hurts a Pirates bullpen that has really looked for consistent arms that can get outs, preserve leads and give the team a chance to make a comeback late.
Sanders has struggled in his time in MLB with the Pirates, with a 9.26 ERA over 11 appearances, a .300 batting average allowed and a 2.20 WHIP.
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The Pirates can make a few decisions on Mlodzinski, who could technically still comeback, but it looks like they will trade him at this point.
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