NASHUA, N.H. (NewsNation) — The crowded field of Republican presidential candidates has descended on New Hampshire, one of the first key primary states.
The GOP hopefuls are in town this weekend speaking with voters at the First in the Nation Leadership Summit.
Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy are all slated to speak to voters at the summit in Nashua.
In his speech Friday afternoon, Christie blamed the violence in Israel and Gaza squarely on Iran.
“The Iranians get their handmaidens of Hamas and Hezbollah to do their dirty work,” he said. “But please understand that Iran is behind what’s happening in Israel right now. They’re paying for it. They’re encouraging it. They’re arming them. And they’re giving them what they need to be able to cause the level of death that we’ve seen.”
While U.S. intelligence officials have said they have no direct evidence linking Iran to Hamas’ incursion into Israel, Iran has historically backed Hamas with funding and weapons.
Despite a crowded GOP, it’s still former President Donald Trump’s race.
The former president is polling at 49% — far ahead of his competition in New Hampshire.
Nikki Haley, however, continues to rise after two strong debate showings. The former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor is polling at 19% in New Hampshire.
Behind her is DeSantis, whose campaign has struggled to gain traction since his much-anticipated launch in May, polling at 10%.
Christie, who has positioned himself as a foil to Trump, is polling at 6%.
Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina are even at 4%.
Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire, said Haley’s recent success puts her in the crosshairs — much like it did to DeSantis early on.
“Now she’s stuck in the same place that Ron DeSantis was several months ago,” said Scala. “On the one hand, you appear to be more of a rival to Trump — and therefore you get Trump’s negative attention. But also because you’ve gotten ahead of your rivals, not named Trump, they’re looking for ways to start to bring you down.”
The deadline to file for the New Hampshire Republican primary is Oct. 27.
A primary election date has not been set.
