HOOKSETT, NH — The first batch of votes cast at midnight tonight in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire will include at least one for Nikki Haley.
Annmarie Pintal Turcotte, who is one of the just six voters registered to vote in the precinct, told The Daily Wire on Monday that she will be casting her vote for the former South Carolina governor. “I’ve met Nikki Haley,” Turcotte told The Daily Wire at a rest stop in New Hampshire. “I think she’s fantastic and I hope that she’s our next president.”
It will be Turcotte’s first time voting in the town that has a historic tradition of voting first in the Granite State which has four registered Republicans and two independents, according to Politico. Though the precinct only has six voters, it has become a closely watched batch of votes as they will be the official first primary votes cast in the primary.
Dixville Notch Voter Says Nikki Haley Will Get Her Vote In New Hampshire Primary
“It started actually in 1960 by Neil Tillotson, who was the owner of the Balsams Resort,” Turcotte said, referring to a resort that she’s now the part owner of. “He started the tradition of voting at midnight and it’s very exciting because it’s the first in the nation primary.”
Though Haley is just one of two candidates remaining after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race over the weekend, she is viewed as a long shot to prevail over former President Donald Trump, who won a commanding victory in the Iowa caucuses and remains ahead by wide margins in the polls. Haley is hoping that a strong performance in New Hampshire, where she’s been boosted by an endorsement from Republican Governor Chris Sununu, could push her back into contention.
Turcotte, who voted for Trump in the 2016 Republican primary, said she believes it’s time for new leadership.
“I did support him and I do believe that he did a lot of great things for our country and I think that in a lot of ways, by a lot of measures, we were in very good shape under Trump’s presidency,” she said. “We appreciate his strengths, but we also know his weaknesses and I think that his presidency, which was supposed to make America great again, also made America hate again.”
“I believe that someone like Nikki Haley can get down to the work that needs to be done and do more uniting,” she added.
Turcotte with Haley / Courtesy of Turcotte
Turcotte said she’s worried about war possibly being on the horizon and wants steady leadership to avoid conflict.
“The possibility of World War III is real and I think, I would ask Trump supporters why he appointed Nikki Haley to be our ambassador to the United Nations,” Turcotte said. “I think that’s because he knows that she has what it takes to be an effective world leader.”
Turcotte added that she is also concerned that if Trump wins the nomination, he will lose to President Joe Biden.
“I know that there’s a lot of support for President Trump in this state,” she said. “I also know that there’s a lot of people who do not support Trump, and I’m very concerned that the people who don’t support Trump, if he gets the nomination, they will vote for Biden, and we can’t have that.”
In 2020 Dixville Notch voted for former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg in the Democratic primary. In 2016, Dixville Notch voters narrowly sided with former Ohio Governor John Kasich, who won three votes to Trump’s two.