OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Nikki Haley is courting disaster as she heads into New Hampshire for what polls suggest will be another drubbing by former President Donald Trump.
With the election being held on Tuesday in the Granite State, it has been discovered that the director of her New Hampshire operation was a lobbyist for a dark money group supporting Democrats that assisted President Joe Biden in 2020, The Washington Examiner reported.
“Tyler Clark, who became Haley’s 2024 state director for the Granite State late last year, is listed on lobbying disclosures filed in New Hampshire as working in 2020 on behalf of Sixteen Thirty Fund, a nonprofit group managed by Arabella Advisors, the largest liberal dark money network in the United States. Sixteen Thirty Fund, which is being investigated by the Washington, D.C., attorney general’s office over financial mismanagement allegations along with the broader Arabella network, doled out more than $410 million in 2020 to boost Democrats and help unseat former President Donald Trump, all thanks to billionaire donors such as George Soros,” The Examiner said.
“The top Haley campaign staffer’s ties to Sixteen Thirty Fund could become a major liability for the ex-U.N. ambassador, who, along with Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), will compete Tuesday in the New Hampshire primary. Clark, the former New Hampshire state director for Trust in the Mission, a super PAC allied with failed GOP White House hopeful Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), also lobbied as recently as last year for New Hampshire’s chapters for the American Civil Liberties Union and American Federation of Teachers, two groups conservatives often criticize for purportedly operating as arms of the Democratic Party, according to lobbying disclosures,” it said.
The current polling shows Trump with a double-digit lead on both Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who, himself, said he believes Trump is going to “run away” with the New Hampshire primary.
“I do think Haley has spent a massive amount of money here. She’s trying to appeal to liberal voters who are allowed to vote in this primary,” DeSantis told host Neil Cavuto on Fox News.
“I think that she’s performed better in polls than she would if it was just a normal Republican primary. So I do think they’re seeing that…I think a lot of it’s a factor of her dumping so much money into the state. I think an unprecedented amount of money,” he said right before he appeared to preemptively concede New Hampshire to Trump.
“But I think her problem is Trump will run away with it in New Hampshire. I think that’s pretty clear at this point. He’s got the momentum from Iowa. And I don’t think anyone thinks that she can beat Trump in her home state of South Carolina,” the Florida governor added.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, meanwhile, has backed off his prediction that 2024 GOP presidential contender Nikki Haley, whom he supports, will win big just days ahead of his state’s primary.
About a month ago, Sununu predicted that the former South Carolina governor would win the primary in a “landslide” and is now saying that a strong second-place finish behind Republican frontrunner and former President Donald Trump would be good enough, the New Hampshire Journal reported.
His updated position aligns with the prevailing circumstances in the Granite State, the outlet noted, adding that Trump’s substantial lead over the rest of the field in Iowa, by a margin of 30 points, coupled with his consistent double-digit advantage over Haley in the polls, suggests he’ll have a good night come Tuesday.
Soon after endorsing Haley in the GOP presidential race, Sununu told ABC’s Jonathan Karl in mid-December: “It’s an absolute win. It’s a win and a reset button. If everyone that could vote in the primary comes out and votes … she’s going to win in a landslide, and that’s not an exaggeration.”
On Jan. 3, Sununu told a Haley town hall in Londonderry, “We’ve got that wrapped up, guys … we’re gonna win.”
Now, however, the governor is telling reporters a second-place finish in the first GOP primary will be a Haley victory, the Journal said.
“We’ve already exceeded expectations in terms of a one-on-one race,” he told Fox News on Thursday. “You know, a strong second is going to be great; that’s wonderful.”
