Nikki Haley’s surge chilled by third place in frozen Iowa caucus

The former governor of South Carolina charged into Iowa as 2024 kicked off with the hopes of knocking off Ron DeSantis and snatching a second-place finish, buoyed by a late-game polling surge.

Instead, she ended the night in a close third — all the while declaring that, despite Mr DeSantis pulling off his own sort-of victory, that it was now a “two-person race”.

She now heads to New Hampshire, boosted by her rising poll numbers but with her momentum blunted, at least to some degree, by the lack of a result here tonight.

Ms Haley concluded her battle for the state with remarks at a Marriott in Des Moines that doubled as two caucus precincts; she lost both of them, with Ron DeSantis pulling off a near-upset of his own in one. But in her remarks closing down her campaign’s caucus-night watch party, the former ambassador and governor projected the image of a candidate on the upswing, headed to friendly territory with the wind at her back.

It remains wholly unclear if any of that is true. Donald Trump remains ahead in all available polling of both New Hampshire and South Carolina, two of the upcoming states most favourable to the Haley campaign’s target demographics.

Her unassuming finish in Iowa came despite a usual dose of Iowa shenanigans. This year, turnout was heavilyblunted by brutal winter weather and snowy conditions on roads across the state. Ms Haley, unlike any of her opponents, saw her support boosted in multiple precincts by Democratic Iowans who, thanks to state laws, were allowed to switch their party registration on caucus day and vote strategically in the GOP primary; a desperate bid to break the Trump fever gripping the Republican Party.

One of those Democrats was Alan Koslow of Des Moines, who spoke to The