Donald Trump cruises to victory in New Hampshire primary

Former president Donald Trump won the New Hampshire Republican primary on Tuesday night, the Associated Press called shortly after polls closed in the state.

With less than 20 per cent of results in by 8pm, Mr Trump had clearly won the Republican primary with 54 per cent of the vote so far.

The former president, who is currently the 2024 Republican frontrunner, was expected to perform well in the Granite State given his stronghold over the majority of the Republican Party. However,unlike his performance in Iowa last week, Mr Trump’s win was not by a massive margin.

With a larger-than-expected independent voter turnout, Mr Trump did not perform well in more liberal-leaning counties like Dover, Concord and Keene – early data indicated. Many of those votes were picked up for his political opponent, Nikki Haley.

Ms Haley, trailed closely behind the former president while votes came in throughout the evening.

Although Ms Haley lost the primary, her campaign said they would continue campaigning to the next primary in her home state of South Carolina.

Minutes after his win, Mr Trump took to Truth Social and wrote, “Haley said she had to WIN in New Hampshire. SHE DIDN’T!!!”

Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump visits a polling site at Londonderry High School on primary day, on January 23, 2024 in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

Mr Trump’s win signals he is one step closer to obtaining the Republican National Committee (RNC) nomination.

RNC chairwoman, Ronna McDaniels, told NBC News that if Mr Trump came out “strong” then the Republican Party would need to unite behind one candidate.

Already, former candidates Senator Tim Scott, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have