Haley lives to fight another day against Trump, but faces 'challenging road' ahead in GOP presidential race

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Donald Trump won again.

But the former president didn't land a knockout blow in New Hampshire's Republican presidential primary, as his last remaining major rival in the GOP nomination race vowed to keep on fighting.

"You’ve all heard the chatter among the political class. They’re falling all over themselves saying this race is over. Well, I have news for all of them: New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not last in the nation. This race is far from over," Nikki Haley stressed, as she spoke to supporters after the New Hampshire race was quickly called for Trump.

The former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration now heads back to her home state, which on Feb. 24 holds the next major contest in the Republican nominating calendar.

TRUMP TOPS HALEY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, BUT DOESN'T DELIVER KNOCKOUT BLOW

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley waves to the audience as she speaks at a New Hampshire primary night rally, in Concord, N.H., Tuesday Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A rally Wednesday night in Charleston is the first in a series scheduled over the coming days. And the campaign said they're launching a new $4 million ad blitz in South Carolina this week.

Trump, in an interview with Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman, argued that it was time for Haley to suspend her campaign, so he could begin targeting President Biden in what's expected to be a general election rematch.  

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"She should because, otherwise, we have to keep wasting money instead of spending on Biden," the former president emphasized. "If she doesn’t drop out, we have to waste money instead of spending it on Biden, which is our focus." 

Trump's victory in New Hampshire came eight days after he captured a majority of the vote and crushed the competition in Iowa's low-turnout Republican presidential caucuses. And it came two days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his campaign, making the race a two-candidate contest between Trump and Haley.

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New Hampshire – where independent voters who make up roughly 40% of the electorate can vote in either major party's contest and have long played an influential role in the state's storied presidential primary – was considered fertile ground for Haley. And Haley spent plenty of time and resources in the state, and secured the influential endorsement of popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire.

Pundits viewed New Hampshire's primary as Haley's best and possibly last chance to slow down or derail the former president's march towards renomination.

And the former president's nearly twelve point margin over Haley was below what most of the final public opinion surveys conducted ahead of the primary had suggested.

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Trump, who praised his opponents in his victory speech in Iowa a week ago, set a very different tone in his New Hampshire address.

He argued that Haley "ran up to the stage all dressed up nicely" and delivered "a speech like she won. She didn’t’ win. She lost."

"Let’s not have somebody take a victory when she had a very bad night. She had a very bad night," Trump emphasized.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a primary election night party in Nashua, N.H., Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024.? ((AP Photo/Matt Rourke))

But seasoned Republican strategist Colin Reed emphasized that Haley "was wise to get out there quickly and make it clear that this race was going to continue and end that narrative in its tracks before it got any traction."

"Now she’s got to sharpen her message… she’s got a month to make her case," noted Reed, who is once again neutral in the GOP nomination after helping to steer a super PAC that was supporting former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's  unsuccessful 2024 campaign.

A source in Haley's political orbit, speaking to Fox News, argued that there are "now two states where Trump got barely half the vote. That's incredibly weak for an incumbent."

And Haley, in her speech, spotlighted that "we still have ways to go, but we still keep moving up."

Haley's campaign told Fox News Digital on Tuesday morning that they hauled in $1.5 million in fundraising since DeSantis dropped out of the race. And they noted that they're planning major fundraisers in the days ahead.

Longtime New Hampshire-based Republican consultant Jim Merrill said that "the reality is Haley overperformed expectations."

"Donald Trump wanted a narrative out of New Hampshire that this race was over. And New Hampshire didn’t give it to him," Merrill, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, noted.

Merrill, who remains neutral in the 2024 GOP nomination race, said that "it’s a challenging road for Haley that lays ahead, but I think she’s earned the right to make that journey."

But Mike Dennehy, another longtime New Hampshire-based GOP strategist, hinted that the end of the Republican race appeared near, as he pointed towards the exit polls.

"The bottom line is she only won 25% of registered Republicans. There is no good news coming out of New Hampshire for her."

And Mike Biundo, a New Hampshire-based Republican consultant who is neutral again after heading up a super PAC that was backing Vivek Ramaswamy's unsucessful White House campaign, told Fox News that "Last night was Nikk's best and only opportunity to make a lasting impact on this race."

Pointing to a "potential humiliating loss in her home state just 30 days away," Biundo argued "there is no secure landing for her campaign. If I were advising her, I would suggest making a strong case that it's time for her to save herself for 2028 and beyond and to back Trump before it's too late for her career."

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.