The race for runner-up: Can GOP candidates slow down Trump's momentum?

 

DUBUQUE, Iowa (CBS 58) -- After former President Donald Trump's landslide victory in Iowa, one question heading into New Hampshire is whether the rest of the Republican candidates can gain momentum.

It's why the stakes only get higher for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley who placed second and third respectively behind Trump's roughly 30-point lead.

While Monday's results show Trump has an even stronger grip on the GOP nomination, Anthony Chergosky, an associate professor of political science at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, said pressure is building on DeSantis and Haley to narrow the former president's lead.

"As the campaign has gone on, DeSantis' numbers have gone in the wrong direction, and…we are very much at a do or die point already for Nikki Haley," Chergosky said. "If she loses by a wide margin by Donald Trump in New Hampshire, I think we call it a year for the Republican nomination."

Tim Hagle, associate professor of political science at the University of Iowa, also noted that while the Hawkeye state is the first major test of the presidential election, there's still a lot of unknowns looming over the race, such as Trump's legal troubles.

"There's always that possibility of strenuous events to affect the campaigns, so things like Trump's trials, the effort to kick him off the ballot in Colorado and Maine," Hagle said. " If all of a sudden, a trial comes to a conviction, would then some Republicans be concerned about voting for him as the nominee? So, there's some questions that need to be answered."

Trump is currently fighting a federal court of appeals case over whether he has presidential immunity in a fraud case, facing federal charges for mishandling classified documents, election interference in Georgia and New York, plus a trial over real estate fraud.

Maine and Colorado are also seeking to bar the frontrunner on their primary ballots in two separate challenges.

For now, Trump's dominance in Iowa inches him closer to the GOP nomination and a possible rematch with President Joe Biden, a race few Americans are excited about according to an Associated Press/NORC poll.

The poll found more than 50% of Americans feel somewhat or very dissatisfied if Trump was the Republican nominee and Biden ended up as the Democratic party’s pick.

"I'm not in favor [of that]," said Terry Hendricks, an undecided voter from Dubuque. "I don't think either of them should be president. They're too old."

The GOP primary elections will continue Jan. 23 in New Hampshire where Haley has trimmed Trump's lead to the single digits, according to a CNN poll.

Trump still leads with the backing of 39% of likely Republican primary voters compared to compared to Haley’s 32%