MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has a simple message for moderates, centrists, and independent voters: return “home” to the GOP.
Haley is in a do-or-die battle against former President Donald Trump ahead of New Hampshire’s primary next week. The key to upsetting Trump in the Granite State lies directly in wooing independent voters and moderate Democrats there.
“What I’m doing is telling people what I’m for. If independents and conservative and moderate Republicans like that, I love that,” Haley said Thursday night during a CNN town hall in Henniker, New Hampshire. “If conservative Democrats are saying, I want to come back home to the Republican Party because they left it. I want them back.”
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Independent voters make up the largest share of voters in New Hampshire at roughly 40% of the electorate, giving them an outsize ability to determine the winner of the Republican primary.
And with President Joe Biden not appearing in the Democratic primary ballot due to a disagreement between New Hampshire law and the Democratic National Committee over the primary schedule, Democrats could cross over to vote for Haley during the Jan. 23 primary.
But Haley conceded progressive Democrats will likely not vote for her.
“We’re not trying to target progressives; they’re never going to be for me,” Haley continued. “I know that we have differences. But what I will do is — I want the younger voter. I want those moderates. I want those independents. I want them to come back home to the Republican Party because that’s how we win.”
Haley finished in third place and 32 points behind Trump during Monday night’s Iowa caucuses. She faces high pressure to win in New Hampshire or risk the end of her presidential campaign.
But Haley has the endorsement of Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH), who remains popular with independents in New Hampshire. With former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie out of the race, Haley could cobble together a coalition of her supporters, independents, moderate Democrats, and Christie voters to defeat Trump.
She polls about 13 points behind Trump, according to the RealClearPolitics New Hampshire poll average.
Yet the former South Carolina governor reiterated during the CNN townhall that in a head-to-head matchup, she beats Biden by 17 points in a reference to a Wall Street Journal poll last year.
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Whether New Hampshire voters decide to give Trump another shot at the White House or boost Haley’s campaign remains to be seen. But Haley isn’t turning away any voter based on party identification.
“I want to bring people into the party because, at the end of the day, we have to heal and unify as Americans,” Haley said Thursday night.
