New Hampshire
Haley faces uphill battle in New Hampshire after Iowa disappointment
Nikki Haley faces an uphill slog in the race for the GOP nomination after a disappointing third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses kept Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the race and blunted the former South Carolina governor’s momentum.
Haley and her supporters had hoped a second-place finish, as projected in one promising Iowa poll over the weekend, might have brought a stronger result in Iowa that could have given her a real boost ahead of the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23.
Instead, Haley enters the Granite State seeking to reel in the runaway winner in Iowa, former President Trump, even as she continues to battle with DeSantis.
Finishing in third means “the hill in New Hampshire is steeper,” said Dante Scala, a professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire, who described her caucus results as not “the ride out of Iowa she was hoping for.”
“You don’t get that many opportunities to deliver a clear message to New Hampshire voters, and one of those opportunities is the day after Iowa, if you can credibly say, ‘I have momentum.’ And I think that opportunity was lost,” Scala said.
After the results became clear, Haley insisted she was now in a two-person race and that she had no interest in taking part in debates with anyone other than Trump or President Biden.
“We’ve had five great debates in this campaign,” Haley said in a statement from her campaign. “Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it.”
The likelihood of Trump agreeing to a debate with either Haley or DeSantis remains slim, given the political benefits he’s seen from ignoring the scrums.
Trump won the Iowa caucuses with 51 percent of the vote, according to polling data from The Hill and Decision Desk HQ, while DeSantis finished with 21.2 percent and Haley earned 19.1 percent.
“I think she would’ve loved to clear the field with a second-place finish in Iowa,” Republican strategist Alex Conant said of Haley. “Instead, the non-Trump vote remains divided going into the critical New Hampshire primary.”
Conant argued that while Iowa didn’t get her a big boost, by finishing close to DeSantis she emerged in a relatively strong position. New Hampshire strategists also suggested voters in the state might not be paying much attention to the Iowa outcome.
Jim Merrill, a GOP strategist based in the Granite State, argued Haley may even have “overperformed” in Iowa, given her lower expectations compared with those of DeSantis, who spent significant time touring the state’s 99 counties and scored the endorsement of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R).
Haley is primed for a strong performance in New Hampshire, where she’s backed by state Gov. Chris Sununu (R).
“She’s the one candidate in these early states that has a chance to break though,” Merrill said. “We’ll see what she does with these seven days, but I don’t think Iowa changes her trajectory here at all.”
An Emerson College Polling/WHDH New Hampshire survey released last week found Haley with 28 percent support among Republican primary voters in New Hampshire, up from 18 percent in November and well ahead of DeSantis’s 7 percent.
But she’s still 16 points behind Trump, who won 44 percent support in the poll — 5 percentage points less than what he scored in November.
The latest polling averages from The Hill and Decision Desk HQ put Trump at around 41 percent support, with Haley at 33 and DeSantis at 6.
Haley may need a victory in New Hampshire to give herself a real chance of winning the GOP nomination.
“I think right now we’re at the beginning. It could very well be the end,” said Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett. “If Nikki, or Ron for that matter, can make it competitive in New Hampshire, then you have a chance at a race.”
Haley is well behind Trump in polls in her home state of South Carolina, which holds its primary on Feb. 24.
“It’s a very narrow path for anyone not named Trump,” Bartlett said.
Last week, Haley and DeSantis were the only two candidates to participate in a CNN-hosted debate in Des Moines. ABC and CNN have both announced plans to host GOP presidential debates in New Hampshire, but Haley’s announced intention to skip them unless Trump agrees to participate could leave DeSantis on his own.
“Anything is possible in New Hampshire. But it ain’t easy,” Bartlett said.
“Make no mistake, it’s still a very steep, snowy mountain to climb here in New Hampshire. She’s got some granite heels, but it’s gonna take everything she’s got and then more.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
One-third of Americans support Christian nationalism, report shows
A new report finds about three in 10 Americans back or sympathize with Christian nationalism, according to the Public Religion Research Institute.
New Hampshire has the highest share of adults who identify as atheists in the U.S., at about 11%, according to a Pew Research Center study.
Nearly half of adults in the Granite State (48%) identify as religiously unaffiliated, a group that includes atheists, agnostics, and people who describe their religion as “nothing in particular.”
In the U.S. overall, 5% of adults identify as atheists, meaning New Hampshire’s share is more than twice the national average. About 29% of U.S. adults identify as religiously unaffiliated.
However, regionally, the West has the highest share of adults who identify as atheists among the four major U.S. regions – Northeast, Midwest, South, and West – according to the data.
The Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study (RLS) regarding Americans’ beliefs was conducted in English and Spanish from July 17, 2023, to March 4, 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 36,908 U.S. adults.
What is atheism? 10 US states with the highest percentage of atheists
Atheism is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a lack of belief or a strong disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods.” However, people may interpret and describe the term in different ways.
Here are the 10 U.S. states with the highest shares of adults who identify as atheists, according to data from the Pew Research Center:
- New Hampshire – 11% of residents
- Washington – 9% of residents
- Colorado – 8% of residents
- Massachusetts – 8% of residents
- Montana – 8% of residents
- Oregon – 8% of residents
- Vermont – 8% of residents
- California – 6% of residents
- Idaho – 6% of residents
- Maryland – 6% of residents
New Hampshire religious composition
About 45% of adults in New Hampshire identify as Christian, 5% identify with other religions, and 48% as religiously unaffiliated, according to the Pew Research Center.
Breaking it down even further, 20% identify as Catholic, 13% as Mainline Protestant, 10% as Evangelical Protestant, 1% as Historically Black Protestant, 1% as Latter-day Saint (Mormon), 1% as Orthodox Christian, and less than 1% as Jehovah’s Witnesses or other Christian groups.
Roughly 1% identify as Jewish, less than 1% as Muslim, less than 1% as Buddhist, less than 1% as Hindu, less than 1% as Native American religions, and less than 1% as other world religions. About 1% identify with Unitarian and other liberal faiths, and 1% with New Age beliefs.
Among all adults in New Hampshire, 11% of all adults in New Hampshire identify as atheists, 1% as agnostics, and 29% with “nothing in particular.”
About 3% of respondents did not answer the question, the survey said. Additionally, the margin of error for the 2023-24 figures among adults in New Hampshire is plus or minus 8.0 percentage points.
CHARLEVOIX COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) — A Northern Michigan man accused of torching a Charlevoix County farm is now behind bars in New Hampshire.
Investigators said 23-year-old Daniel Fournier is linked to a January fire that caused an estimated $500,000 in damage.
Authorities tracked him to Merrimack, where he was arrested during a traffic stop while allegedly carrying a loaded pistol.
A search of his apartment turned up more firearms, suspected incendiary devices and evidence investigators say ties him to the Michigan arson.
Fournier is fighting extradition and remains jailed pending another court hearing.
Two people are facing charges after they allegedly broke into a New Hampshire home on Tuesday wearing black masks and armed with baseball bats, all while a 12-year-old was inside.
Danville police said they received a call around 9 p.m. Tuesday for a report of a home invasion on Beatrice Street. A 12-year-old was home alone on a video chat with his friend when three people wearing black masks and armed with baseball bats broke through his front door. The 12-year-old’s friend quickly called 911.
According to police, the three people were attempting to locate the child’s father and threatened the father with serious bodily injury.
An officer soon arrived at the scene, set a perimeter, and called in two K9 units.
A search of the area didn’t initially turn up anything, but a K9 track led officers to another nearby home. Police interviewed the resident of the mobile home, identified as Nathan Wilder, who denied any involvement in the home invasion.
As the investigation continued, police learned that the original caller had heard from some other friends that one of the suspects in the home invasion had bragged about being involved. They determined that Nathan Wilder, John Wilder and a juvenile were the three people who had broken into the home.
John Wilder admitted to police that he had broken into the home on Beatrice Street and said that Nathan Wilder and a juvenile had assisted him.
Police were able to locate and seized three baseball bats, two ski masks and a few articles of clothing used in the crime.
John and Nathan Wilder were arrested and the juvenile who was involved was released to a parent.
John Wilder is charged with burglary with a weapon, criminal threat with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief. Nathan Wilder is charged with with burglary with a weapon and criminal threat with a deadly weapon. Both men are currently being held at the Rockingham County Jail awaiting arraignment.
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