Despite latest loss to Trump in New Hampshire, "race is far from over," says Nikki Haley

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, tightening his grip on the Republican presidential nomination and further bolstering the likelihood of a rematch later this year against President Joe Biden.

Just minutes after the major US media outlets declared Trump the winner of the Republican primary, the former UN ambassador, while speaking to her supporters in Concord, the New Hampshire state capital, said, "New Hampshire is the first in the nation. It's not the last in the nation. This race is far from over."

Minutes after the last New Hampshire polling sites closed at 8 pm local time, the US media called the Republican primary race for Trump, cementing his strong lead in the race for the party nomination. It is a significant victory for the former president and puts him in a commanding position to become the party's presidential candidate in November.

The former South Carolina governor plans to travel to her home state on Wednesday, "fresh off the New Hampshire primary," a campaign advisory states, where she will host a rally "to officially kick off her swing in the Palmetto State leading up to next month's first-in-the-south primary." Haley's campaign had already released a memo on Tuesday morning emphasising her intention to stay in the race until at least March 5 for the 16 Super Tuesday primaries, a commitment the former UN ambassador repeated in her remarks at the Grappone Conference Centre.

On the other side of the proverbial aisle, US President Joe Biden won the New Hampshire Democratic primary as a write-in candidate after his name was not included on the printed ballot. Biden was not among the 21 candidates listed on the ballot after New Hampshire defied the primary calendar set by the National Democratic Party. However, due to the internal party clash, Biden did not register for the primary and the results and did not yield any nominating delegates.