MANCHESTER, N.H. — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley greeted voters in Hampton Tuesday morning as her campaign insisted she’s not quitting the race, even as polls show she’ll lose later in the day to former President Donald Trump.
Ms. Haley, the former South Carolina governor, trails Mr. Trump by 18 points in the latest primary tracking poll conducted by Suffolk University.
The poll, sponsored by The Boston Globe and NBC-10, showed Mr. Trump winning more than 60% of the vote in the Granite State.
The survey found Ms. Haley‘s support remained at 38%.
The day began with some good news for Ms. Haley. All six voters in Dixville Notch voted for her after its polls opened at midnight.
In Hampton, Ms. Haley greeted supporters and called on New Hampshire voters to choose her over the legally embattled Mr. Trump.
She recounted all of the girls she has met along the campaign trail, and some of them gave her friendship bracelets that she showed reporters.
“It’s something special,” Ms. Haley said. “This is such a reminder of why I’m doing this., I don’t want my kids to live like this, and I don’t want anybody else’s kids to live like this. Let’s stop the chaos and let’s move forward.”
Ms. Haley, 51, has promoted herself as a conservative leader from a new generation who will be free of the vendettas and attacks that she said will plague a rematch between Mr. Trump, 77, and President Biden, 81.
Ms. Haley is expected to pick up significant support from the state’s large bloc of undeclared voters, who can choose a Republican or Democratic ballot in the primary.
Mr. Trump has accused her of courting Democrats who simply want to block him from the November ballot because he’s a greater threat to Mr. Biden.
Ms. Haley‘s campaign is signaling she won’t quit Tuesday night even if she loses.
A campaign rally is scheduled for Wednesday in Charleston ahead of South Carolina’s Feb. 24 primary.
In a campaign memo issued Tuesday morning, campaign manager Betsy Ankney outlined a path for Ms. Haley to keep going after New Hampshire by winning independent voters in states with open primaries.
In South Carolina, where Ms. Haley was governor from 2011-17, anyone can vote in the GOP primary if he or she doesn’t vote in the state’s Feb. 3 Democratic primary.
After South Carolina, Ms. Haley can win votes in Michigan, which also has an open primary. In the Super Tuesday contest on March 5, Ms. Ankney said, “there is significant fertile ground for Nikki,” because 11 out of 16 state primaries that day are open or partly open, with 874 delegates up for grabs.
The states include Virginia, Texas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina and Vermont, which the campaign noted have “favorable demographics” for her.
Ms. Ankney said polls show that 50% of GOP primary voters want an alternative to Mr. Trump and 75% of the voters nationwide don’t want a Biden-Trump rematch in November.
“And while members of Congress, the press and many of the weak-kneed fellas who ran for president are giving up and giving in — we aren’t going anywhere,” Ms. Ankney said.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.