When Donald Trump trounced his Republican rivals in New Hampshire’s 2016 primary, the stunning win announced to other states the reality TV showman was a serious contender. Trump went on to capture the Republican nomination and then the White House.
But, as the former president kicks off his bid to recapture the White House in 2024 with a speech in New Hampshire on Saturday, he will find the political landscape more treacherous than he did six years ago, according to party activists, members and strategists in the state.
In interviews with 10 New Hampshire Republican Party officials and members, some of whom worked on Trump’s 2016 primary campaign and have been staunch Trump supporters in the past, Reuters found only three sticking with him this time around.The rest cited exhaustion with Trump’s controversies, exasperation at the constant drama, and a desire to move on from Trump’s loss in 2020 with a fresh face who they thought would have a stronger chance of winning in 2024.The public souring on the former president is a troubling development for Trump. New Hampshire often gives a candidate momentum as they head to other primary states.Most of the New Hampshire party members who had cooled on Trump prefer Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, as the party’s standard bearer, although DeSantis has not yet said if he will launch a White House bid.
“Trump right now is a distraction for the Republican Party in trying to go forward. Trump has run his course,” said Brian Sullivan, 60, a Hillsborough County Republican Committee member who backed Trump in the 2016 primary.
“I would rather see someone else, like Ron DeSantis, in the race,” Sullivan said.While he likes Trump’s policies and applauds his achievements in office, “I just don’t think he has what it takes to win the White House again,” Sullivan said.
The three Republicans still backing Trump said his voting base in New Hampshire remains enthusiastic, he has formidable name recognition, and that many Republican voters like his policy achievements while in office, giving him a strong record to run on, unlike other potential candidates.
The Trump campaign, in an email to supporters, touted a Jan. 24 poll from Emerson College Polling showing the former president leading DeSantis nationally among Republican voters, 55 to 29 per cent.
Yet, the willingness of Republican party members to criticize Trump in conversations with Reuters is striking.
Lori Davis, 67, got into grassroots Republican politics because of Trump. Back in 2015, she worked on his New Hampshire primary campaign, knocked on doors for him, urged anybody she met to vote for him.Not this time. “I like Donald Trump. But, it’s going to be an uphill battle for him in this primary because of his divisiveness. People are tired of the drama,” Davis said.It is not just in New Hampshire where Trump faces potential headwinds. Some billionaire donors who helped fund his previous campaigns have not yet donated.
They include hedge fund billionaire, Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah. She has already donated to DeSantis’s political committee.
While the winner of New Hampshire’s Republican primary has not won the state in a general election since George W. Bush in 2000, it is still viewed as a critical test in the nominating process.
Chris Maidment, chairman of the Hillsborough County Republican Committee, described the mood among many members as “Trump fatigue,” adding: “I’m definitely open minded this time round. There’s a lot of exciting potential candidates out there.”
A majority of candidates Trump endorsed in competitive races in November’s congressional elections lost to Democrats.
During Trump’s four years as president after his 2016 victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress, before he lost the 2020 election to his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.”Republicans want someone who can win and who is not going to be a pushover for the Left.”Trump represented that before but I’m not sure he represents that now,” said Neil Levesque, executive director at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.
In a poll conducted of likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire by Levesque just before last November’s election, Trump trailed DeSantis by 38 to 47 per cent.
Overall, 50 per cent of the state’s voters had a “strongly unfavourable” impression of Trump, with just 22 per cent a “strongly favourable” one.
