HOPKINTON, N.H. — Of the twelve remaining Republican candidates, three have chosen to skip the watch parties and post-caucus celebrations in Iowa Monday evening. Instead, they’ll be courting voters in a state that’s become far more crucial to their success.
In the middle of caucus night coverage in Iowa, Govs. Chris Christie, John Kasich and Jeb Bush will be miles away, pitching themselves to undecided voters in New Hampshire, where they each hope to finish strong in the state’s Feb. 9 primary.
Kasich, who spent most of last weekend campaigning in the Granite State, continued to greet voters here Monday at three separate campaign stops between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. The Ohio governor has previously said that a weak finish in the first-in-the-nation primary would spell the end of his White House bid.
“If I get snuffed out in New Hampshire — ball game over,” he told the Washington Examiner during a campaign stop last week.
Christie kicked off Monday with three early-morning events in Iowa, but had arrived in New Hampshire by 4:30 p.m. for a town hall in Hopkinton. The event drew around 100 voters and was the first of two campaign stops Monday evening in the Granite State.
While recent state-level surveys have shown Kasich polling in second place in New Hampshire, indicating his non-stop presence in the state has begun to pay off, Christie drew just 6 percent support in an American Research Group survey released Monday.
“I’m happy to be back in New Hampshire and there’s work to do because I understand there are still some undecided voters in this state,” Christie told a crowd Monday. “Mary Pat and I spent the last five days in Iowa and I’m now ready to be completely focused on New Hampshire in these last eight days.”
Meanwhile, Bush, who is neck-and-neck with Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in RealClearPolitics’ New Hampshire polling average, is set to arrive in New Hampshire around 6 p.m. Monday for a town hall in Manchester.
The former Florida governor has pushed back against suggestions that New Hampshire is do-or-die for his campaign. Unlike Christie and Kasich, however, Bush has been the recipient of few endorsements from New Hampshire-based news outlets.
“My broad point is that my record, I think, is the one that, if you compare the three governors, in spite of their talents, is the best one,” Bush recently said in an attempt to distinguish himself from Kasich and Christie.
Beginning Tuesday, Bush, Kasich and Christie will be forced to compete with several other GOP candidates who are likely to spend most of their time between now and the Feb. 9 primary campaigning across New Hampshire.
