Live: Trump is approaching the Republican nomination by leaps and bounds

Donald Trump and Nikki Haley are set to face off in New Hampshire. After the former president's resounding victory in Iowa, which took Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson out of the race, the next stop on the primary trail is The Granite State, which has predicted five of the last seven Republican nominees for president.

Indeed, New Hampshire is known as the first state to hold traditional primaries on the GOP calendar, since caucuses are held in Iowa. In this case, voters can go to their polling place and choose their candidate privately as in any election.

However, unlike other states, this primary is semi-closed, meaning people can vote in the primary of their choosing. In other words, voters do not have to be registered as a Republican to be able to vote for Trump and Haley, although registered Democrats cannot vote in Republican primaries and vice versa.

Voting centers opened at 11 a.m. and are prohibited from closing before 7 p.m. Results are expected to arrive around 10 p.m. EST.

Live results: Trump projected as winner

Minutes after the final close of the polls and with less than 20% of the votes counted, the race was projected in favor of Donald Trump, who would defeat Haley in New Hampshire.

Despite polls projecting a more comfortable victory, the former governor manages to maintain the difference between 10 and 8 percentage points.

Donald Trump: 53,8 %

Nikki Haley: 44,8 %

Percentage of votes counted: 53 %.

What's at stake in New Hampshire?

For Nikki Haley, it is about her survival in the race. If she does not win, she will have to come in a very close second to Trump in order to remain competitive for South Carolina and then Nevada.

For the former president, it is about confirming his leadership, and a good result could put even more pressure on the former ambassador to the United Nations to withdraw from the race, thus avoiding a wearing primary that has weakened candidates in the past.

Only 30% of Haley voters are Republicans

According to CNN's exit polling, 70% of Trump voters are registered Republicans, contrasting with 27% for Haley. The overwhelming majority of the former UN ambassador’s supporters, 70%, do not identify with a particular party.

Last polls close at 8:00 p.m.

While the first polls closed at 7:00 (Eastern), the last polls in New Hampshire will close at 8:00 p.m.

Trump awaits results in a castle

The former president awaits the first results from New Hampshire at the Sheraton Hotel in Nashua, a place that many compared to a medieval castle, given its tall stone pillars and wooden masts. As if that were not enough, it is located on the hill on the border between New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Exit polls: only half of voters think Biden legitimately beat Trump in 2020

According to the numbers published by CNN, 49% believe that Joe Biden defeated Trump legitimately four years ago, against another 49% who believe that some kind of electoral fraud occurred.

At the same time, the polls found that 64% do not identify with the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement initiated by Donald Trump in 2015.

As for the biggest issue for voters, the most commonly chosen were the economy and immigration. In fact, a majority of respondents stated that they believe illegal immigrants should be deported to their home countries.

Unlike Iowa, most voters in New Hampshire say they would oppose a federal ban on most or all abortions.

How many delegates does New Hampshire contribute?

The Granite State will award a total of 22 delegates, which will go proportionally to either Haley or Trump based on the number of votes received. According to the state's rules, candidates must get more than 10% of the vote to receive delegates.

Nikki Haley tests Governor Sununu's endorsement

The Republican has perhaps the most coveted endorsement in the state: that of Chris Sununu. One of the most popular governors in the country, he has campaigned with Haley across the state to ensure she ends up as close to Trump as possible.

High turnout expected

The New Hampshire Secretary of State's office told Fox News that voter turnout is "very strong" and on track to set a record.

After estimating a turnout of about 322,000 people in the Republican primary, they added, "it will be interesting to see how close that prediction came.”

Haley off to a good start

The former governor confirmed her victory in the first town to vote in New Hampshire: Dixville Notch. She received all the votes (6) against zero for her rival.

What do the polls say?

The latest polls show Trump as the favorite to carry New Hampshire. For example, the average of Fivethirtyeight has the president receiving 53.9% of the voting intention against Haley’s 39%, the only other Republican candidate campaigning.

A recent CNN poll also has Trump as the winner, but in this case taking 50% of the votes against 39% for Haley.

Don Bolduc predicts a victory for Haley

The 2022 Senate candidate for New Hampshire was endorsed by Trump against Chris Sununu's wishes and ended up being defeated by a much wider margin than expected.

According to his analysis, Haley will be the surprise of the night and will defeat the former president. "Well, I think the enthusiasm is high. I think she's going to turn that into a very strong appearance today. I think she's going to win. Nikki Haley has gone from 2% in this state, down to the margin of error with Donald Trump," he said in dialogue with CNN.

"She's really connected with the entire electorate here. And she's done it the New Hampshire way with over 150 appearances here in the state. So she's worked hard. She's worked hard and it's going to show tonight," he added.

"We've seen him confused"

Haley took the opportunity to play the age card against Trump hours before the primary. While she claimed he was qualified to be president, she said the country needed a leader who could be "completely focused on the job," insinuating that the former president wasn’t up to the task.

"I mean, look, we've seen him get confused. He got confused when he said I had something to do with keeping security away from Capitol Hill. Clearly, he was talking about somebody else," she said of Trump on Tuesday.

The latest Republican winners in New Hampshire

1976: Gerald Ford

1980: Ronald Reagan

1988: George H.W. Bush

1996: Bob Dole

2000: John McCain

2008: John McCain

2012: Mitt Romney

2016: Donald Trump

2024: Donald Trump