In 2016, Donald Trump finished second in the GOP’s Iowa caucus, three points behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Then, Trump won his first primary in New Hampshire eight days later, won the Republicans’ nomination, and became president.
In his current campaign for president, Trump is reportedly focusing on New Hampshire by hiring… a former staffer for Jeb Bush?!
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Two GOP insiders told Politico Tuesday that Trump is set to hire Trevor Naglieri, a political operative known as the field coordinator for Bush’s failed presidential campaign.
Naglieri was poached by the Cruz campaign later in 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile. He became the Texas senator’s New Hampshire field director before ascending to become national field director. He also served as campaign manager for Pennsylvania Republican Jeremy Shaffer, a failed candidate for U.S. House.
However, the operative has also worked on some winning campaigns. According to LinkedIn, he worked on Bill Cassidy’s successful bid to unseat Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu, an incumbent U.S. senator at the time.
Outside campaigns, Naglieri has also managed investments, and he spent three years at consulting firm Axiom Strategies.
Trump has recently expressed doubts about his past hires and nominees. He nominated Christopher Wray to direct the F.B.I., only to watch Wray’s F.B.I. raid his home five years later.
“I put Chris Wray in, because I wanted to have somebody in there that everybody, including the other side, really wanted,” Trump explained Monday on Fox News. “It may not have been the right move.”
Some pundits have invited questions about Trump’s decision to prioritize the Granite State over bigger, redder states. Trump lost the state by fewer than 3,000 votes in 2016, before losing by 59,000 votes in 2020. By comparison, down-ballot Republicans retook both chambers of the state legislature in 2020, on the same ballot as Trump.
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However, other Republicans are also tapping their contacts in New Hampshire, the state with the earliest primary. For example, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — another candidate for president — has been touting her endorsement from New Hampshire’s Don Bolduc, the GOP’s candidate for U.S. Senate last year.
Trump has made powerful allies in the state, especially when compared to Haley. He reportedly tapped the state’s former GOP Chair Steve Stepanek to serve as a senior adviser.
The Horn editorial team