By Nathan Layne
LACONIA, New Hampshire (Reuters) – Longtime Donald Trump supporter Doug Lambert agrees with the former president that the potential criminal charges he faces in New York are being cooked up by his enemies on the left. But, Lambert worries about the “messiness” of a Trump presidential candidacy and is leaning towards voting for someone else.
Like other Republicans in New Hampshire, which traditionally holds the second nominating contest in presidential election years, Lambert, 58, the owner of a manufacturing company, will be among the earliest to weigh in on Trump’s viability for the Republican nomination in 2024.
“With my primary vote I want to make sure that I put somebody up that I can agree with, that supports my values, but is also electable,” said Lambert, who voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020 and is vice chair of the Republican Party in Belknap, the state’s reddest county.
“If I was voting today I would vote for Ron DeSantis,” he said, referring to the Florida governor who has not yet officially announced a White House run but is seen as a leading contender for the nomination and is Trump’s biggest challenger.
Trump has sought to solidify support for his candidacy by presenting himself as a victim of a politically motivated investigation by New York prosecutors that could lead to his indictment for alleged hush money payments he made to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 election campaign. Trump has denied making the payments.
But interviews with a dozen Republican voters in Belknap this week found that while Trump supporters still held affection for the former president and were considering his candidacy, many were also looking at who else is in the field.
A majority of those interviewed said they agreed with Trump’s allegations – for which he has offered no evidence – that Democrats were using the legal system to hurt his candidacy, but none saw the indictment as a persuasive argument to firmly back him.
Nearly all said they were also interested in DeSantis, who is visiting New Hampshire next month, as well as their own state’s governor, Chris Sununu, who is flirting with a run.
“I think our governor here in New Hampshire would be a very good choice. He’s a real level-headed guy,” said Raymond Peavey, 56, a former Marine who voted for Trump twice but wants to assess the other candidates before committing to him again.
POLLING IS MIXED
Benefiting from a large field of candidates and tapping into the angst of…
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