Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley spun a third place finish in the Iowa caucuses on Monday night as a victory, declaring that despite failing to live up to polling and media expectations, she had narrowed the race to a one-on-one race against former President Donald Trump.
The political operation backing Haley spent more money in Iowa, $37 million, than any other candidate, according to CNN. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spent $35 million in the state and Trump spent $18.3 million.
Despite being repeatedly labeled for weeks as the “surging” candidate in the race and the final The Des Moines Register poll showing that she was poised to beat DeSantis in the state by four points, Haley fell short when it came time to caucus, landing a couple of points behind DeSantis.
“Tonight I will be back in the great state of New Hampshire,” Haley said. “And the question before Americans is now very clear: Do you want more of the same, or do you want a new generation?”
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She declared that what her campaign was doing in New Hampshire, where she is polling in second, and in her home state of South Carolina, where the dynamics and demographics of the race shift back in favor of Trump and DeSantis, allowed her to “safely say tonight Iowa made this Republican primary a two-person race.”
“Trump and Biden are both about 80 years old,” she said. “Trump and Biden put our country trillions of dollars deeper in debt, and our kids will never forgive them. Both lack a vision for our country’s future because both are consumed by the past — by investigations, by vendettas, by grievances. Americans deserve better.”