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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders – while not totally ruling out potentially serving as former President Donald Trump’s running mate – is making it clear that she plans to run for re-election in 2026.

“I love Arkansas and I feel like I just got started here with one year in office,” Sanders said Monday while delivering remarks at the Arkansas Christian Schools Summit. “There’s a long list of things I want to make happen.”

With Trump being the commanding frontrunner in the Republican presidential race – winning both the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary – anticipation is growing over who the former president would pick as his running mate. Sanders often appears in speculative lists.

VOTERS SHARE TOP RUNNING MATE CHOICES FOR TRUMP IF ELECTED: ‘IT HAS TO BE SOMEONE YOUNGER’

Sanders, the daughter of Fox News host and former longtime Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, was White House press secretary in Trump’s administration. 

TRUMP SAYS NIKKI HALEY ‘PROBABLY’ NOT HIS CHOICE FOR VICE PRESIDENT

Now serving as Arkansas’ first female governor and a prominent GOP political figure, she’s considered to be one of many names on a long list of potential running mates for Trump.

Sanders has openly endorsed Trump and is campaigning on his behalf, but amid rumors of rejoining his administration, affirmed her plans to run for re-election as governor.

A source in the governor’s political orbit also told Fox News on Wednesday that “she is very, very happy with what she’s doing.”

On Monday, Sanders also said, “I’m very biased in what I hope happens in the election. I’m going to do everything within my power to see that Donald Trump gets re-elected, but I look forward to serving as governor for seven years.”

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Trump said he already decided on his 2024 running mate during a recent Fox News townhall, but did not give any hints as to who that might be. 

Among the other rumored VP picks are Gov. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.

MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE – Former President Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump on Tuesday said she believes skeptical GOP voters will coalesce around the former president in November and said former Ambassador Nikki Haley’s path to the nomination is essentially “impossible.”

“I think so I don’t see any world in which someone who loves this country, who wants to see this country succeed again, who wants to see people basically return to a time when they could achieve their American dream, I don’t see any of those people ever voting for Joe Biden,” Trump told Fox News Digital in New Hampshire Tuesday when asked if she thinks Republicans who didn’t support Trump in the primary will support him in November.

“We know, of any candidate who has been running in this election for president of the United States, there is only one who has done it successfully, It’s Donald Trump and maybe you don’t like every tweet, maybe you don’t like his personality at times, but he kept us safe,” Trump continued. “He kept us strong. He made people prosperous. He really reinvigorated the American spirit and, man, do we need that now more than ever. I don’t see anyone who really considers himself someone who loves this country ever voting for Joe Biden.”

Lara Trump spoke to Fox News Digital hours before Trump’s record third New Hampshire primary victory and talked about Haley’s chances of winning in South Carolina next month.

TRUMP RAN UP THE SCORE WITH THESE VOTERS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY WIN, FOX NEWS VOTER ANALYSIS REVEALS

“Polling for Nikki Haley does not indicate that she would likely win her home state,” Trump said. “I think you look at New Hampshire, you have Nevada coming up as well, she’s not even registered right now for the caucuses there. That’s the only way you actually earn delegates from the votes there.” 

“So I think the path to victory seems small, if not negligible and impossible for her at this point. Politically, I don’t know that it would be the greatest move for her to stay in this election.“

DONALD TRUMP WINS AGAIN, AS FORMER PRESIDENT QUICKLY BEATS NIKKI HALEY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE GOP PRIMARY

Trump added, “The reality is we have to target our enemy. The enemy is Joe Biden. We have to take back the White House. We want to take back the Senate. We want more folks in the House from the Republican side of the aisle because we really do have a country to save at this point. I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say that if Joe Biden wins this election in 2024, I don’t believe we will have the same country after another term of Joe Biden as president that we started with when Donald Trump left office.”

If disgruntled Republicans do unite behind former President Trump in November, Lara Trump told Fox News Digital that Biden is handing a victory to Republicans by doing a “masterful” job campaigning for them with his unpopular policies. 

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“That’s not to say that we don’t have our work cut out for us,” Trump said. “We know that we deal majorly with a hostile mainstream media who does not like Donald Trump, certainly, and is always in the pocket of the liberals, who are basically the marketing arm for the Democrat Party at this point. 

“We’re up against a lot and we take nothing for granted so I do think we’re going to have to work. But man, when it comes to Joe Biden, he certainly has served it up to us on a silver platter.”

A Texas mother who went to court to obtain an illegal abortion will attend the State of the Union address in March as a guest of first lady Jill Biden.

President Biden and the first lady spoke to Kate Cox on the phone Sunday as Biden seeks to make abortion rights a signature issue of his re-election effort. Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two, made national headlines after she asked the Texas Supreme Court for permission to obtain an abortion when her unborn child was diagnosed with a fatal condition. She was denied and later left the state to abort her baby elsewhere. 

The Bidens “thanked [Cox] for her courage in sharing her story and speaking out about the impact of the extreme abortion ban in Texas,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday.

“The first lady invited Kate to join her as a guest at the State of the Union and Kate accepted,” she said.

TEXAS SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST PREGNANT WOMAN HOURS AFTER SHE LEAVES STATE TO OBTAIN ABORTION

The Biden campaign put abortion in the spotlight this week with a “Reproductive Freedom” rally in Virginia to commemorate what would have been the 51st anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. The court overturned Roe in 2022, ending federal protections for abortion and permitting states to regulate the procedure as lawmakers see fit. 

Since then, 14 states, including Texas, have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions, and two others have banned abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is around six weeks of gestation.

Cox’s baby had a condition known as trisomy 18, which is when a baby has an extra copy of chromosome 18. The diagnosis has a very high likelihood of miscarriage or stillbirth, and a low survival rate. 

Cox’s lawsuit against Texas, which cited doctors, argued that continuing the pregnancy jeopardized both her health and her ability to have more children. 

BIDEN CALLS TRUMP ‘MOST RESPONSIBLE’ FOR ‘STRIPPING AWAY’ ABORTION, VOWS TO VETO ANY NATIONWIDE BAN

Trisomy 18 occurs in approximately 1 in 2,500 diagnosed pregnancies, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. There is no live birth in about 70% of pregnancies involving the diagnosis that proceeds past 12 weeks gestational age, according to a legal filing that the two groups submitted to the court.

Texas’ abortion ban makes narrow exceptions when the life of the mother is in danger, but not for fetal anomalies. Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that Cox had not shown that any of the complications in her pregnancy rose to the level of threatening her life.

The court battle and Cox’s defeat have become a rallying cry for Democrats nationally, who say Republican-backed abortion restrictions deny women health care and take away their rights. 

At his rally in Manassas, Virginia, on Tuesday, President Biden said former President Trump is “most responsible” for the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and blamed his predecessor (and likely general election opponent) for “stripping away” abortion rights.

BIDEN CALLS ON CONGRESS TO RESTORE ROE V. WADE ABORTION PROTECTIONS AS FEDERAL LAW: ‘THIS IS NOT OVER’

The president said women are “being turned away from our emergency rooms, forced to travel hundreds of miles to get basic health care, forced to go to court to plead to help to protect themselves, and the ability to often have children in the future.”

“The cruelty is astounding and it’s a direct affront to a woman’s dignity to be told by extreme politicians and judges to wait to get sicker and sicker before anything can happen, even to the point where, as you heard your life had been determined to be in danger, or the idea that a woman should have to carry a fetus after she’d been raped or the victim of incest,” Biden said. “It’s outrageous.”

“Or the idea a woman receives competent medical advice that the fetus she’s carrying won’t live and will impact on her ability to have children in the future and she still can’t get medical care,” he continued in apparent reference to Cox’s story. “I think it’s unconscionable that anyone thinks that this is where America is going in 2024.”

“Let there be no mistake: the person most responsible for taking away this freedom in America is Donald Trump,” he said. “Trump says he’s proud that he overturned Roe v. Wade.”

The White House said Biden will continue to share the stories of women who have been impacted by abortion restrictions since Roe v. Wade was undone. 

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“It is important for Americans to hear the horror stories that we’re hearing from women of their experiences across the country,” Jean-Pierre told reporters, explaining why Cox was invited to the State of the Union address on March 7, 2024. 

“The Biden-Harris administration is standing with a majority of Americans on this. With a majority of Americans. And Republican elected officials are just not,” she added.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, Bradford Betz and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

President Biden’s newly anointed campaign chair previously had a few choice words about Republicans, calling them a “bunch of fu–ers” while praising Biden’s calls for unity.

Biden’s team announced on Tuesday that Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s deputy chief of staff, would pivot from her White House role to his re-election campaign to help steer its operations. The team also said Mike Donilon, a senior White House adviser, would shift to his political arm as its chief strategist. 

O’Malley Dillon was not shy about her thoughts on Republicans during a December 2020 interview with Glamour after coming off her stint as Biden’s campaign manager.

BIDEN’S TOP OUTSIDE GROUP HAULS IN OVER $200M TO AID UPHILL RE-ELECTION FIGHT

“The president-elect was able to connect with people over this sense of unity,” O’Malley Dillon said at the time. “In the primary, people would mock him, like, ‘You think you can work with Republicans?’ I’m not saying they’re not a bunch of f—ers. Mitch McConnell is terrible. But this sense that you couldn’t wish for that, you couldn’t wish for this bipartisan ideal? He rejected that.”

“From start to finish, he set out with this idea that unity was possible, that together we are stronger, that we, as a country, need healing, and our politics needs that too,” she continued.

O’Malley Dillon has also projected extreme views on firearms on social media, previously saying all guns should be taken off the street while responding to a tweet from failed Texas senatorial, gubernatorial and presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke regarding a baby shot in the face.

“My son is 17 months old, which shouldn’t fu–ing matter,” she wrote in September 2019. “But thinking of that baby with shrapnel is his face almost broke me. GET EVERY ONE OF THOSE G–DAMN GUNS OFF OUR STREETS.”

DEMOCRAT LAWMAKERS SOUND THE ALARM OVER BIDEN’S CAMPAIGN: ‘NOT REAL COMFORTABLE’

The announcement comes as former President Trump has firmly positioned himself as the dominant GOP force after his showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The moves, however, are unlikely to receive fanfare from Democrat strategists who have been openly critical of Biden’s campaign operations. O’Malley Dillon has overlooked the campaign’s path from D.C. for months, while Donilon has been involved with its strategy, according to the New York Times, which first reported the news and expressed the actions are more formal than anything. 

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“I’m thankful to Mike and Jen both for their service in the White House these last three years, and I am grateful that in rejoining the campaign, they are stepping up one more time to ensure we finish the job for the American people,” Biden told the Times.

Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has stayed neutral since the very start of the 2024 GOP presidential nomination race.

While McDaniel and the national party committee are still not taking sides in the 2024 battle between former President Trump and former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the RNC chairwoman appears to be sending a signal.

“I’m looking at the math and the path going forward, and I don’t see it for Nikki Haley,” McDaniel told anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum in a Fox News Channel interview late on Tuesday night.

HALEY LIVES TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY, BUT FACES A ‘CHALLENGING’ ROAD AHEAD

“I think she’s run a great campaign, but I do think there is a message that’s coming out from the voters, which is very clear,” McDaniel emphasized.

She urged that “we need to unite around our eventual nominee, which is going to be Donald Trump, and we need to make sure we beat Joe Biden.”

TRUMP TOPS HALEY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, BUT DOESN’T DELIVER KNOCKOUT BLOW

McDaniel was interviewed hours after the former president won a second straight double-digit victory, but he did not land a knockout blow in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary, as his last remaining major rival in the GOP nomination race vowed to keep on fighting.

“This isn’t the RNC speaking, this isn’t the establishment speaking, this is voters speaking,” McDaniel said.

When asked by MacCallum if she was suggesting that Haley needed to suspend her campaign, McDaniel would only say that Haley and her team needed to “reflect” about the upcoming contests in Nevada and South Carolina and to consider “what’s the most important thing going forward.”

In a speech to supporters Tuesday night in New Hampshire after Trump’s primary victory was quickly projected, Haley said, “You’ve all heard the chatter among the political class. They’re falling all over themselves saying this race is over. Well, I have news for all of them: New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not last in the nation. This race is far from over.”

Haley now heads back to her home state, which holds the next major contest in the Republican nominating calendar on Feb. 24.

A rally Wednesday night in Charleston, South Carolina, is the first in a series scheduled over the coming days. Additionally, the campaign launched a new $4 million ad blitz in South Carolina on Wednesday.

Trump, in an interview with Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, argued that it was time for Haley to suspend her campaign so he could begin targeting President Biden in what is expected to be a general election rematch.  

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST RESULTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE’S PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY

“She should because, otherwise, we have to keep wasting money instead of spending on Biden,” the former president emphasized. “If she doesn’t drop out, we have to waste money instead of spending it on Biden, which is our focus.” 

Trump’s victory in New Hampshire came eight days after he captured a majority of the vote and crushed the competition in Iowa’s low-turnout Republican presidential caucuses. It came two days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his campaign, making the race a two-candidate contest between Trump and Haley.

New Hampshire – where independent voters who make up roughly 40% of the electorate can vote in either major party’s contest and have long played an influential role in the state’s storied presidential primary – was considered fertile ground for Haley. She spent plenty of time and resources in the state, and secured the influential endorsement of popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire.

Pundits viewed New Hampshire’s primary as Haley’s best and possibly last chance to slow down or derail the former president’s march toward renomination.

The former president’s nearly 12-point margin over Haley was below what most of the final public opinion surveys conducted ahead of the primary had suggested.

Sununu pushed back against McDaniel in a “Fox and Friends” interview on Wednesday morning.

“With all due respect to Ronna McDaniel, to say that we’re just going to call it after two states, 40 states to go, the head of the Republican Party saying, we don’t want to hear from the all the other Republicans in the nation because it’s getting too close, that’s nonsense,” the New Hampshire governor emphasized. “You got to let the voters decide, not a bunch of political elites out of D.C.”

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A Republican source said there did not appear to be any conversations between the RNC and Haley’s campaign.

McDaniel, in a Fox News Digital interview on Monday, highlighted the benefits of the GOP nomination race coming to an early conclusion.

“Obviously, it’s helpful from an organizational standpoint, from a fundraising standpoint,” McDaniel said. “The Democrats have the White House. They’re using the power of Joe Biden having the White House to raise a huge amount of money and the sooner we can merge our operations and be focused on him and not on each other is always good for the party.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Americans for Prosperity Action, the political wing of the influential and deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers, admitted that GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley has a “steeper road ahead” facing former President Trump in South Carolina. 

Reacting after Trump clinched his second straight victory in the New Hampshire primaries Tuesday, Americans for Prosperity Action Senior Advisor Emily Seidel said the results in New Hampshire “show that Nikki Haley is closing the gap and that she is the clear alternative for voters who are ready to close the book on the toxic Biden-Trump political era.”

“This is still an uphill battle. Now all eyes turn to South Carolina, where she has a steeper road ahead,” Seidel said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. “For the past several months, we’ve been engaged in races for the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and presidential levels to prevent a scenario where one party progressive rule comes to Washington, D.C. at a time when our country can least afford it. If Republicans nominate Donald Trump, we risk a repeat of the past three elections and the very real threat of full progressive control increases dramatically.”

Seidal went on to say of Trump, “This is why Joe Biden and the Democrats want him to be the nominee. The stakes for our country simply couldn’t be higher.”

RAMASWAMY: ‘SINISTER FORCES AT PLAY’ IF HALEY DOESN’T DROP OUT OF PRESIDENTIAL RACE: ‘THAT GETS UGLY’

“Our teams will continue talking to South Carolina voters in support of Nikki Haley. We are laser focused on electing the candidates who can be the firewall preventing one party progressive rule of the federal government. We have three ways to win the Senate, the House, and the presidential primary. Through our multi-pronged effort we are prepared to get this done. I’m proud of our activists’ ongoing efforts. Despite challenging conditions, their support shows that AFP Action consistently takes principled and tough action when our country needs it most.” 

A conservative group with powerful grassroots outreach, Americans for Prosperity Action endorsed Haley in November and pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars to help push the GOP past Trump. 

After knocking out most of the field with a commanding win in Iowa, Trump achieved another victory in New Hampshire, but Haley still vows to stay in the race. She is set to campaign in the U.S. Virgin Islands and in South Carolina on Wednesday as the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination moves beyond the first two voting states.

HALEY LIVES TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY AGAINST TRUMP, BUT FACES ‘CHALLENGING ROAD’ AHEAD IN GOP PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Trump flew back to Florida on Tuesday night after a strong performance in New Hampshire. It was his third straight New Hampshire primary victory, tying a record previously held by Richard Nixon, who won the event in 1960, 1968 and 1972. Trump is the first presidential candidate to win three consecutive New Hampshire primaries.

The next primary is scheduled for Feb. 3 in South Carolina on the Democratic side, while the South Carolina Republican primary is Feb. 24. 

Despite Haley previously serving as South Carolina’s governor, the current governor, a slew of statewide officials and four out of the six Republican U.S. House members from the Palmetto State are backing Trump, as well as both the state’s U.S. senators, Sen. Lindsey Graham and former GOP presidential rival Sen. Tim Scott. 

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President Biden, who also won his respective primary in New Hampshire, said it was “now clear” Trump would be the Republican nominee and that the “stakes could not be higher.” 

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Donald Trump won again.

But the former president didn’t land a knockout blow in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary, as his last remaining major rival in the GOP nomination race vowed to keep on fighting.

“You’ve all heard the chatter among the political class. They’re falling all over themselves saying this race is over. Well, I have news for all of them: New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not last in the nation. This race is far from over,” Nikki Haley stressed, as she spoke to supporters after the New Hampshire race was quickly called for Trump.

The former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration now heads back to her home state, which on Feb. 24 holds the next major contest in the Republican nominating calendar.

TRUMP TOPS HALEY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, BUT DOESN’T DELIVER KNOCKOUT BLOW

A rally Wednesday night in Charleston is the first in a series scheduled over the coming days. And the campaign said they’re launching a new $4 million ad blitz in South Carolina this week.

Trump, in an interview with Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, argued that it was time for Haley to suspend her campaign, so he could begin targeting President Biden in what’s expected to be a general election rematch.  

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST RESULTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE’S PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY

“She should because, otherwise, we have to keep wasting money instead of spending on Biden,” the former president emphasized. “If she doesn’t drop out, we have to waste money instead of spending it on Biden, which is our focus.” 

Trump’s victory in New Hampshire came eight days after he captured a majority of the vote and crushed the competition in Iowa’s low-turnout Republican presidential caucuses. And it came two days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his campaign, making the race a two-candidate contest between Trump and Haley.

New Hampshire – where independent voters who make up roughly 40% of the electorate can vote in either major party’s contest and have long played an influential role in the state’s storied presidential primary – was considered fertile ground for Haley. And Haley spent plenty of time and resources in the state, and secured the influential endorsement of popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire.

Pundits viewed New Hampshire’s primary as Haley’s best and possibly last chance to slow down or derail the former president’s march towards renomination.

And the former president’s nearly twelve point margin over Haley was below what most of the final public opinion surveys conducted ahead of the primary had suggested.

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Trump, who praised his opponents in his victory speech in Iowa a week ago, set a very different tone in his New Hampshire address.

He argued that Haley “ran up to the stage all dressed up nicely” and delivered “a speech like she won. She didn’t’ win. She lost.”

“Let’s not have somebody take a victory when she had a very bad night. She had a very bad night,” Trump emphasized.

But seasoned Republican strategist Colin Reed emphasized that Haley “was wise to get out there quickly and make it clear that this race was going to continue and end that narrative in its tracks before it got any traction.”

“Now she’s got to sharpen her message… she’s got a month to make her case,” noted Reed, who is once again neutral in the GOP nomination after helping to steer a super PAC that was supporting former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s  unsuccessful 2024 campaign.

A source in Haley’s political orbit, speaking to Fox News, argued that there are “now two states where Trump got barely half the vote. That’s incredibly weak for an incumbent.”

And Haley, in her speech, spotlighted that “we still have ways to go, but we still keep moving up.”

Haley’s campaign told Fox News Digital on Tuesday morning that they hauled in $1.5 million in fundraising since DeSantis dropped out of the race. And they noted that they’re planning major fundraisers in the days ahead.

Longtime New Hampshire-based Republican consultant Jim Merrill said that “the reality is Haley overperformed expectations.”

“Donald Trump wanted a narrative out of New Hampshire that this race was over. And New Hampshire didn’t give it to him,” Merrill, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, noted.

Merrill, who remains neutral in the 2024 GOP nomination race, said that “it’s a challenging road for Haley that lays ahead, but I think she’s earned the right to make that journey.”

But Mike Dennehy, another longtime New Hampshire-based GOP strategist, hinted that the end of the Republican race appeared near, as he pointed towards the exit polls.

“The bottom line is she only won 25% of registered Republicans. There is no good news coming out of New Hampshire for her.”

And Mike Biundo, a New Hampshire-based Republican consultant who is neutral again after heading up a super PAC that was backing Vivek Ramaswamy’s unsucessful White House campaign, told Fox News that “Last night was Nikk’s best and only opportunity to make a lasting impact on this race.”

Pointing to a “potential humiliating loss in her home state just 30 days away,” Biundo argued “there is no secure landing for her campaign. If I were advising her, I would suggest making a strong case that it’s time for her to save herself for 2028 and beyond and to back Trump before it’s too late for her career.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

An attempt to state that Georgia’s appointed State Election Board has the legal power to investigate Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s handling of elections blossomed into a constitutional showdown Tuesday, with a lawyer for Raffensperger saying board members can’t legally oversee him.

“There is no precedent for an unelected board of political appointees to have oversight over members of the executive branch,” wrote Charlene McGowan, Raffensperger’s general counsel. “Giving a board of unelected bureaucrats unchecked power over the state’s executive branch is a dangerous policy proposal.”

But the Senate Ethics Committee disagreed, voting to advance Senate Bill 358. The proposal would remove Raffensperger from his nonvoting post on the board, allow the board to hire election investigators instead of solely relying on those working for Raffensperger and clearly give the board power to investigate the secretary of state.

TRUMP GA PROSECUTOR IN RELATIONSHIP WITH DA BLASTED FOR ‘INADEQUATE’ INFO ON DRUG, ALCOHOL USE: DIVORCE DOCS

“We’re looking to empower the State Election Board so that they can have oversight responsibility and that there’s no confusion about where that oversight responsibility is vested,” said Ethics Committee Chairman Max Burns, a Sylvania Republican.

It’s only part of a push by Republican lawmakers for changes in how elections are run in Georgia.

Raffensperger’s steadfast defense of Georgia’s 2020 election, which Democratic President Joe Biden narrowly won, and his rejection of a call by Donald Trump to “find” more Republican votes made him a national figure. But Raffensperger is also a pariah among many Republican activists, who continue pushing Trump’s false claims that Georgia’s 2020 results were marred by fraud and that Trump was the rightful winner. And those activists continue to exert pressure on Republican Georgia lawmakers, who face election this year.

Activists have been pushing the State Election Board to investigate whether Raffensperger mishandled his audit of Fulton County’s 2020 results, motivated by unproven claims of fraud. The board deadlocked 2-2 in December on whether it had such authority, and two board members asked lawmakers to clarify the law.

A lawyer who works for the legislature told committee members Tuesday it’s “an open question under Georgia constitutional law” whether the State Election Board can regulate the secretary of state, but said the measure wouldn’t affect Raffensperger’s duties as outlined in the constitution. Supporters said they can go forward because most of Raffensperger’s election responsibilities are outlined in state law, not the Georgia Constitution.

“They’re all in general law that the Georgia General Assembly has passed over the course of time in our state history,” said Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch, a Dahlonega Republican. “So we can change them, amend them in any way we want, through the legislative process.”

McGowan warned that lawmakers are aiding people who want to overturn legitimate election results and could empower the board to obstruct certification of Georgia’s 2024 presidential results.

“In fact, this proposal is being pushed by a small group of activists who continue to seek de-certification of the 2020 presidential election results, with the apparent intent of giving the State Election Board the ability to interfere with or even prevent the secretary from certifying the results of the 2024 presidential election,” McGowan wrote.

Lawmakers also want Raffensperger to remove computer codes used to count most Georgia ballots, to move more quickly to patch voting machine software vulnerabilities, and include more ballot security features.

Neither Raffensperger nor any of his staff appeared during the Tuesday Senate committee meeting, a contrast with testimony Raffensperger deputy Gabriel Sterling gave to a House Governmental Affairs subcommittee Tuesday on other bills.

Sterling said Raffensperger supports a bill to stamp ballots with a watermark to ensure voters know they aren’t forged. He also voiced support for a measure proposing more and stricter after-election audits to guarantee machines count ballots correctly. And Governmental Affairs Chairman John LaHood, a Valdosta Republican, agreed to amend a bill calling for high-resolution scans of ballots to be released for public inspection after Sterling said current scanners only produce lower-resolution images.

LaHood has also proposed a bill backed by Republican House Speaker Jon Burns that would mandate Georgia stop using QR codes to count ballots by July 1. Opponents say voters can’t be sure the computer codes match the choices printed on their ballots.

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“Every one of our committee members said their citizens do not trust the QR code. So let’s go ahead and get rid of it,” Sen Brandon Beach, an Alpharetta Republican, said recently.

Raffensperger told lawmakers last week that he supports a move to scan “human readable text,” the names printed on ballots, to count votes. But he said it was impossible to make such a change before the November presidential election.

Eliminating QR codes would cost $15 million to buy more than 32,000 ballot printers statewide, Raffensperger’s office has estimated.

The House subcommittee didn’t hear testimony Tuesday on the bill to ban QR codes. LaHood said afterwards he was hopeful Raffensperger’s office might propose a new solution using optical character recognition software.

Former President Trump Georgia prosecutor Nathan Wade, who is allegedly in a relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, was slammed by his wife’s lawyers in new divorce documents for giving “inadequate” answers about his alcohol, drug and medication use.

Wade has been involved in a contentious split from Joycelyn Wade, his wife of 26 years, since filing for divorce in 2021. He had filed papers for divorce the day after Willis appointed him special prosecutor in the Trump election interference investigation. Willis has recently come under fire for her alleged secret relationship with Wade.

But despite seeking an end to his marriage, Mr. Wade has repeatedly failed to answer basic questions and provide documentation asked for by his wife, whose lawyers claimed in court papers that Mr. Wade gave information that was “so woefully inadequate so as to be useless.”

The court papers from February 2023 were unsealed by a judge on Monday.

GEORGIA SENATE REPUBLICANS CONSIDER SPECIAL PANEL TO INVESTIGATE FANI WILLIS MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS

Mrs. Wade asked her estranged husband to provide information about his alcohol usage, the brands of alcohol he drank and if he ever drove within an hour of drinking. He replied, “Red wine once a week at home with dinner,” according to the court filing.

When asked whether he used any legal or illegal drugs, Mr. Wade said, “no illegal drug use ever,” an answer Mrs. Wade’s lawyers say failed “to address any legal or prescription drug use at all.”

Her lawyers said Mr. Wade revealed he had taken pain medications and antibiotics after a surgery in April 2020 but did not disclose “which medications, the duration of the prescription, the dosage, the prescribing authority, nor whether he took the drug as prescribed.”

Mr. Wade is not accused in the court filings of abusing drugs or alcohol.

JUDGE IN TRUMP PROSECUTOR’S DIVORCE CASE CUTS OF DA FANI WILLIS LAWYER DURING HEARING: ‘LET ME INTERRUPT YOU’

The prosecutor’s wife had first requested answers to questions about his drug and alcohol use and his finances in November 2021, so she could negotiate a fair divorce settlement. But her lawyers say in court papers that Mr. Wade has since repeatedly failed to cooperate by refusing to disclose basic information.

In August, Mr. Wade faced a civil contempt order for not complying with a judge’s order to hand over discovery to his wife’s lawyers, court papers show.

The lawyers filed another motion in September arguing he was avoiding turning over financial records. He had claimed to have received more than half a million dollars working on the Trump investigation without having produced “one single document evidencing this income.”

Mr. Wade “has knowingly obfuscated this civil litigation to his own ends,” his wife’s lawyers said. “Furthermore, while earning such substantial sums, [Mr. Wade] has provided nearly nothing to [Mrs. Wade] for her support and survival as her own bank account is often in overdraft.”

His wife’s lawyers served Willis with a subpoena for her to be deposed in the divorce case amid allegations of him having a relationship with the district attorney. But a judge on Monday put that deposition on hold at least until he can hear from Wade, who has also not been deposed.

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Superior Court Judge Henry Thompson also unsealed the divorce case on Monday over the recent rise in interest because of the misconduct allegations against Mr. Wade and Willis.

Additionally, Thompson ruled Monday that Mrs. Wade has the right to uncover any alleged affair by her husband.

Willis’ lawyer argued she should not be deposed in the divorce case because it is about dividing marital assets that she “has nothing to do with” and that any alleged affair is irrelevant in the case.

Mrs. Wade’s lawyer, however, told the judge Monday, “I want to know how [Mr. Wade] has been spending his money. I have reason to believe he is spending it on another woman and that’s my client’s money.”

Nikki Haley swept the first votes cast in New Hampshire, but it was downhill from there.

In the town of Dixville Notch, which has this strange ritual of voting after midnight, all six votes went to Haley, with journalists outnumbering them 10 to 1.

It was clear that many at CNN and MSNBC were rooting for Haley, grasping at exit-poll figures that seemed favorable and downplaying Trump-friendly statistics, such as that 63% described themselves as very or somewhat conservative. “The Nikki Haley campaign has to be happy so far with what they’re seeing,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said.

Well, not so much. When the last polls closed at 8 p.m. ET, the cable news networks said the race was “too early to call.” By then, Trump had jumped out to a 52 to 46% lead. 

HALEY VOWS TO CONTINUE ON AFTER FALLING TO TRUMP IN HIGH-STAKES NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY

Within 13 minutes, NBC and Fox News projected Donald Trump the winner. Five minutes later, CNN called the primary for Trump as well.

The only question now was the margin.

Almost immediately, Haley came out smiling and swinging away, as if she had just cruised to victory. “What a great night. God is so good. Thank you, New Hampshire!”

DEAN PHILIPS SETS HIS BENCHMARK FOR NH AS HE AIMS TO SHOW BIDEN IS ‘UNELECTABLE’

She seemed detached from reality, until she devoted one sentence to congratulating Trump on his victory.

Then the former governor declared “we got close to half the vote.” Except, well, in a two-person race that’s not good enough. 

Haley then started attacking the man who named her U.N. ambassador, a montage of lines she has used before. Clearly fired up, she said Republicans have lost election after election under Trump. She said it was “time to put the negativity and chaos behind us.” She said Trump had a “senior moment,” after describing how he blamed her for Jan. 6 when he meant Nancy Pelosi. And her favorite, well-worn line: “A Trump nomination is a Biden win and a Kamala Harris presidency.”

By the time Haley finished, Trump’s lead was up to 10%. Half an hour later, it was up to 12%.

On CNN, former Obama White House official David Axelrod expressed doubt that Haley would want to contest her home state of South Carolina, where Trump has a huge lead in the polls.

Even Maddow conceded “she can’t win in South Carolina.”

When Trump came out, he mocked Haley’s address:

“She’s doing a speech like she won. She didn’t win, she lost… She pretended she won Iowa… She had a very bad night… She’s still hanging around.”

Then came the accusation he can’t let go of: “We also won in 2020.”

And noting his lead in most general election polls, Trump said: “Beating Biden–who the hell can’t.”

And then he pivoted to the border mess.

When Haley’s day began with a “Fox & Friends” interview, it was clear that she had reached the when-are-you-dropping-out stage, and the former South Carolina governor pushed back hard against what she calls the “elite media.”

“No, I don’t get out if I lose today… We’ve had 56,000 people vote for Donald Trump,” Haley said, meaning in Iowa.

“I don’t care how much y’all want to coordinate Donald Trump. At the end of the day, that’s not what Americans want. Americans want a choice.”

Brian Kilmeade jumped in: “I’m really wondering why you think we’re the enemy.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE SHOWDOWN: WHY TRUMP IS CONNECTING WITH VOTERS AND HALEY AND DESANTIS HAVE NOT

“Because I’ve looked at the media, look at the media saying, ‘Oh, this is Donald Trump’s to have,’ look at the political class all coalescing and saying, ‘everybody needs to get out.’ That’s not democracy. That’s not who we are, who we are. When have we ever had two people, down to two people in New Hampshire? And you say, oh, it’s over.”

Could Haley have made it a tighter race in what should be her best state, in part because independents – and Democrats who changed their registration months ago – can vote in the GOP primary?

It turns out that Ron DeSantis, who also faced a barrage of are-you-toast questions, hurt Haley by dropping out Sunday and endorsing Trump. Polls show that his voters went to the former president by a 2-to-1 margin. 

Haley’s miscalculations included canceling two debates with DeSantis, in which she could have made a passionate appeal to the voters, and not hitting Trump hard until the final few days. She also kept a light schedule, didn’t take town hall questions for days and basically stuck to her stump speech, which didn’t make much news. 

Her campaign soon put out a memo saying “not going anywhere” and explaining why several states “are fertile ground for Nikki.”

In Trump’s final speech, in which he called Haley “not electable,” he’s widely reported to have slurred some words (though I don’t know why critics are obsessing over a brief reference to himself in the third person).

“We have become a drug-infested, crime-ridden nation which is incapable of solvin’ even the swollest, smallest problem, the simplest of problems we can no longer solve. We can’t do anything.

“We are an institute in a powerful death penalty! We will put this on!”

Joe Biden’s campaign jumped on this as part of a concerted effort to portray the 77-year-old front-runner as clearly slipping – obviously to counter the liability that even many Democrats see the 81-year-old president as too old for a second term. 

Much of the media, especially some MSNBC shows, are also pushing the narrative that Trump is confused, especially since he mixed up Haley with Nancy Pelosi.

A headline in the liberal New Republic says “Donald Trump is Losing It. Will the Media Make It a Story?”

But even before the results were in, the media pivoted to whether Trump can win the general election, which shows they consider him the nominee, as does the veepstakes chatter.

Politico says “Donald Trump has a problem no matter what happens in New Hampshire on Tuesday night: There’s a whole swath of the Republican electorate and a good chunk of independents who appear firmly committed to not voting for him in November if he becomes the nominee.” Political veterans warn this “makes it much harder for him to win back the people he’s alienated, including those once willing to vote Republican.”

John Kelly, Trump’s second chief of staff, gave a statement to CNN about his ex-boss: “A person who cavalierly suggests that a selfless warrior who has served his country for 40 years in peacetime and war should lose his life for treason – in expectation that someone will take action. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. 

“There is nothing more that can be said,” the retired general concluded. “God help us.” 

But if he feels that strongly, why wait until New Hampshire primary day to say so?

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Look for much more of this. To be sure, Trump drew a flood of negative coverage during the runup to Iowa and New Hampshire, but it was mixed with grudging admiration for his comeback since Jan. 6, ju-jitsu flipping of the four indictments, and surge in the polls. One might even have detected a sense that the media wanted Trump to win the nomination: He’s always the best story, and was viewed as the only candidate President Biden could beat.

Now that he’s overtaken the incumbent in most polls, the media are already shifting to full opposition.

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Former President Donald Trump did it again.

Eight days after he crushed the competition in Iowa’s low-turnout Republican presidential caucuses, Trump quickly defeated Nikki Haley – his final remaining major rival for the GOP nomination – in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.

Fox News projected Trump would win the primary just a few minutes after the final polls closed in New Hampshire.

“I’m very honored by the result,” Trump told Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman in a statement. 

Haley said in a speech to supporters in Concord, New Hampshire after the race was called that “I want to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory tonight. He earned it and I want to acknowledge that.”

FOX DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP REACTS AFTER NEW HAMPSHIRE VICTORY

When asked if he felt Haley would suspend her campaign, Trump told Fox News Digital that he didn’t know but “she should.”

But as the votes continued to be tabulated late on Tuesday night, the former president’s lead over Haley hovered roughly at a ten to eleven point margin, below what most of the final public opinion surveys conducted ahead of the primary had suggested.

And Haley emphasized her campaign would continue.

“Now you’ve all heard the chatter among the political class. They’re falling all over themselves saying this race is over. Well, I have news for all of them: New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not last in the nation. This race is far from over.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY

Trump, speaking to supporters in Nashua, New Hampshire about an hour later, argued that Haley “ran up to the stage all dressed up nicely” and delivered “a speech like she won. She didn’t’ win. She lost.”

“Let’s not have somebody take a victory when she had a very bad night. She had a very bad night,” Trump emphasized.

For Haley, a former two-term South Carolina governor who served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration, the New Hampshire primary was seen as her best and possibly last chance to slow down or derail the former president’s march towards renomination.

New Hampshire – where independent voters who make up roughly 40% of the electorate can vote in either major party’s contest and have long played an influential role in the state’s storied presidential primary – was considered fertile ground for Haley. And Haley spent plenty of time and resources in the state, and secured the influential endorsement of popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire.

With Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropping out of the race on Sunday, a GOP presidential field that topped a dozen candidates last summer is now down to two major candidates. 

“Now we’re the last one standing next to Donald Trump. And today we got close to half the vote. We still have ways to go, but we still keep moving up,” Haley emphasized.

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Haley’s home state of South Carolina holds the next major contest in the Republican calendar – but the primary isn’t until Feb. 24. Haley repeatedly insisted in recent days that she would be marching on to South Carolina.

And Haley on Tuesday night stressed that “there are dozens of states left to go. And the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina.”

A source in Haley’s political orbit told Fox News that there are “now two states where Trump got barely half the vote. That’s incredibly weak for an incumbent.”

For Trump, the victory in New Hampshire following his big win in Iowa moves him another step closer to his goal of winning back the White House.

At the dawn of 2023, the former president was the only declared candidate in the race for the Republican nomination, but he was far from a sure thing.

A year later, the former president once again holds massive sway over the party. Helping to boost his standing – Trump’s legal difficulties.

Trump made history last year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime. But his four indictments, including charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to President Biden, have only fueled his support among Republican voters.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

The New Hampshire primary has wrapped and former president Donald Trump is the winner.

With our Fox News Voter Analysis election survey, we’ve been talking with more than 1,800 N.H. Republican primary voters.

Let’s start by looking at some of the groups where Trump did the best.

Half of N.H. Republican primary voters describe themselves as MAGA supporters, and 87% of them voted for Trump. He also did well with conservative voters, folks without a college degree, and rural voters. 

FOX NEWS VOTER ANALYSIS: IMMIGRATION TOPS LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR NH REPUBLICANS

This is similar to what we saw in Iowa last week.

WHAT NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTERS WANT IN A GOP NOMINEE

When did primary voters decide who they were voting for? Six-in-10 decided more than a month ago. 

And 69% of this group goes for Trump, only a quarter for Haley.

What do Republican primary voters think about how the country is run? About three-in-10 voters say they want complete and total upheaval — and 82% of them go for Trump. 

This is even more than in Iowa, where 70% of these caucus goers went for Trump.

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One more thing, about winning in November: 74% say it’s very important for the Republican nominee to be able to win in November. Over six-in-10 of these voters go for Trump.

Numbers may change a point or two as results update.

Democrats reacted to former President Trump winning the New Hampshire GOP primary election over former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, calling his supporters the “anti-freedom MAGA movement.”

Trump defeated Haley Tuesday night, winning the New Hampshire Republican primary as he vies for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

Fox News Decision Desk projected Trump’s victory just minutes after the final polls closed in the Granite State.

DONALD TRUMP DOMINATES AGAIN, AS FORMER PRESIDENT EASILY BEATS NIKKI HALEY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE GOP PRIMARY

While some Republicans celebrated Trump’s victory, Democrats shared their hot takes on social media, taking aim at Trump’s victory.

Biden’s campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez released a statement on Trump’s win in New Hampshire, saying Tuesday night’s “results confirm Donald Trump has all but locked up the GOP nomination, and the election denying, anti-freedom MAGA movement has completed its takeover of the Republican Party.”

“Trump is offering Americans the same extreme agenda that has cost Republicans election after election: promising to undermine American democracy, reward the wealthy on the backs of the middle class, and ban abortion nationwide,” Chavez Rodriguez said.

“Joe Biden sees things differently. He’s fighting to grow our economy for the middle-class, strengthen our democracy, and protect the rights of every single American,” she continued. “While we work toward November 2024, one thing is increasingly clear today: Donald Trump is headed straight into a general election matchup where he’ll face the only person to have ever beaten him at the ballot box: Joe Biden.”

Censured California Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat running for Senate, tweeted that Tuesday night brought another “primary night, another win by Donald Trump.”

“We all know he will be the Republican nominee. And we know how important the fight ahead is to stop him,” Schiff wrote.

“For our democracy. For our families. And for our future,” he added.

“While Donald Trump barely squeaked out a win tonight in tonight’s Republican New Hampshire primary, President Biden just crushed the Democratic primary — as a write-in candidate,” Occupy Democrats tweeted.

Former New York state Senator Anna Kaplan tweeted that Trump’s “win tonight makes clear that the threat to our democracy is just as real today as it was on January 6, 2021.”

“We cannot let him win in November. We must mobilize and work to reelect President Biden,” she wrote.

Trump won the New Hampshire GOP primary on Tuesday night after the race whittled down to just two major candidates: him and Haley.

The race was called quickly as Trump took the Granite State contest over his former United Nations ambassador.

On the other side of the aisle, Biden took the Democratic primary in the Granite State after mounting a write-in campaign when he was not included on the ballot.

Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., says he will remain in the Democratic presidential primary race, despite losing to President Biden in the New Hampshire primary.

“Congratulations to President Biden, who absolutely won tonight, but by no means in a way that a strong incumbent president should,” he said.

Phillips said voters deserved “options” and also praised GOP candidate Nikki Haley for remaining in the race despite her defeat in the Republican primary to former President Donald Trump.

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“This country deserves options, this country should not have coronations. And I know I know the exhausted majority of this country, center right and center, left Americans. I know they’d much rather see a Nikki Haley-Dean Phillips matchup this November, and we’re going to try to get that done,” he said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed reporting.

Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott set a New Hampshire crowd alive Tuesday with a one-liner about GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

The moment came as former President Donald Trump celebrated his victory in the Granite State’s Republican primary, and said Scott “must really hate” Haley, who served as governor of South Carolina and appointed Scott to the Senate in 2012 to fill a vacancy.

“We do go to South Carolina, where we have done really well, where I’ve done well. We have a great governor and lieutenant governor, great everything because almost every one of them have endorsed me — Two great senators, which is hard. I mean, did you ever think that she would actually appoint you, Tim?” Trump said as Scott stood behind him on the stage.

TRUMP ‘HONORED’ BY NEW HAMPSHIRE WIN, SAYS REPUBLICAN PARTY IS ‘VERY UNITED’

Trump noted Scott’s recent endorsement of him rather than Haley despite her appointing him to the Senate, and added, “You must really hate her.”

The crowd began laughing before Trump added, “No, it’s a shame. It’s a shame.”

Scott then approached the microphone as Trump said, “Uh-oh!”

TRUMP DOMINATES AGAIN AS FORMER PRESIDENT EASILY BEATS NIKKI HALEY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE GOP PRIMARY

“I just love you!” Scott said to more laughter from the crowd!

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“That’s why he’s a great politician!” Trump joked.

Trump holds a commanding lead in South Carolina polls ahead of the Feb. 24 primary. Despite that, Haley vowed Tuesday that her campaign would continue.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy blasted former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley and called former President Trump’s win in New Hampshire a “victory over America last.”

“What we saw tonight is America first defeating America last,” Ramaswamy told the audience at Trump’s election headquarters on Tuesday night after his victory over Haley. “That’s what we saw tonight. If you want America last, you can go to Joe Biden. You’ve got another candidate still apparently in the Republican primary. Cut your social security to fork over more money to Ukraine so some kleptocrats can buy a bigger house, go to Nikki Haley.”

“You know who delivered a double-digit victory tonight? It is a double-digit victory as of right now, this man, Donald J. Trump, the leader of America first and that means something. USA and Donald Trump America first.”

Ramaswamy added that Haley continuing to stay in this race represents the “ugly underbelly of American politics, where the mega-donors are trying to do one thing when we the people say another.”

DONALD TRUMP WINS AGAIN, AS FORMER PRESIDENT QUICKLY BEATS NIKKI HALEY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE GOP PRIMARY

“And it’s up to us, to we the people to at long last say, hell no, we the people create a government that is accountable to us and we the people have said tonight we want again, as we did in Iowa, Donald J. Trump.”

“I’m very honored by the result,” Trump told Fox News Digital in a statement after he was declared the winner of the New Hampshire primary for a record third time.

BIDEN WINS NEW HAMPSHIRE DEMOCRAT PRIMARY AFTER WRITE-IN CAMPAIGN

Haley said in a speech to supporters in Concord, New Hampshire after the race was called that “I want to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory tonight. He earned it and I want to acknowledge that.”

“Now you’ve all heard the chatter among the political class. They’re falling all over themselves saying this race is over. Well, I have news for all of them: New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not last in the nation. This race is far from over.”

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The focus of the race now turns to South Carolina where they will hold their primary next month. Trump currently holds a 30 point lead over Haley in the Palmetto State, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls. 

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Let’s look back to the qualities voters are looking for — “mental capability” is the number one quality New Hampshire Republicans are looking for in a presidential candidate; it’s even more important than their candidate winning in November.

Almost all Granite State GOP voters say their nominee’s mental capability is very important. 

That’s far more than say the same about other traits, like being a strong leader and having the best policies — it’s even more than feel that way about their candidate winning in November.

FOX NEWS VOTER ANALYSIS: IMMIGRATION TOPS LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR NH REPUBLICANS

When it comes to the charges against Former President Trump, just one-third of Republicans in New Hampshire say that they’re legitimate attempts to investigate important issues, while two-thirds say that they’re political attempts to undermine the former president.  

“Mental capability” is the number one quality New Hampshire Republicans are looking for in a presidential candidate. That is far ahead of other traits, such as being a strong leader of having the best policies – it’s even more important than their candidate winning in November.

Here’s one possible reason the ability to defeat Joe Biden feels less important to Republicans: a majority doesn’t accept Trump’s 2020 defeat. This includes almost all Trump supporters.

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What about President Biden’s age? In our survey of Democratic primary voters, over half believe his age isn’t a problem. But more than 4 in 10 Granite State Dems say he’s too old to serve another term. And get this, that includes even some who are supporting Biden today.

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said he is “very honored” by his New Hampshire primary win Tuesday night, telling Fox News Digital that the Republican Party is “very united” behind his candidacy.

Trump won the first-in-the-nation primary Tuesday night, defeating former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Trump also won the Iowa caucuses last week.

During an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital shortly after the race was called, Trump said he was “honored.” 

“I’m very honored by the result,” Trump told Fox News Digital. 

Trump said he was “looking forward to going against the worst president in the history of our country.”

New Hampshire — where independent voters who make up roughly 40% of the electorate can vote in either major party’s contest and have long played an influential role in the state’s storied presidential primary — was considered fertile ground for Haley. And Haley spent plenty of time and resources in the state, and secured the influential endorsement of popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire. 

But Trump dominated, for a second week in a row, in both critical early voting states. 

When asked if he felt Haley would suspend her campaign, he said: “I don’t know, she should.”

“She should because, otherwise, we have to keep wasting money instead of spending on Biden,” Trump said. “If she doesn’t drop out, we have to waste money instead of spending it on Biden, which is our focus.” 

Trump, who was joined at a rally Monday night in New Hampshire by his former opponents who then endorsed him — including Sen. Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Gov. Doug Burgum — said the party is united.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also suspended his campaign on Sunday and endorsed Trump.

“The party is very united except for her,” Trump told Fox News Digital of Haley.

“The party is very united and we’re looking forward to going against the worst president in the history of our country,” he said.

But Haley, during a speech after the race was called, touted that she got close to half of the vote in New Hampshire. She said she is “the last one standing next to Donald Trump,” and added that the race is “far from over.”

“New Hampshire is the first in the nation, not the last,” Haley said. She is now looking ahead to South Carolina’s primary on February 24.