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The first Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 cycle was a chance for eight GOP candidates to introduce themselves to a national audience.
But more importantly, it was the first time voters in critical early voting states saw how the candidates fared up against each other. At watch parties in New Hampshire and South Carolina, two states that can make or break a presidential campaign, voters told USA TODAY what they thought of the crowded field of White House hopefuls.
In South Carolina, which former Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. each call home, young constituents are largely sticking with former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a preference Wednesday’s debate did little to sway.
And in New Hampshire, where voters are notorious for pressing candidates during the primary season, the debate was an opportunity to see how the Republicans clashed on a national stage.
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The crowd favorites: None in New Hampshire, DeSantis in South Carolina
At Murphy’s Taproom in Manchester, New Hampshire, where roughly a hundred prospective Republican primary voters gathered, there were no specific crowd favorites as attendees watched the debate Wednesday night. The watch party showed how Granite State voters will give a wide range of candidates a shot: almost every candidate garnered some form of applause during the debate.
“I’d like to see how everybody conducts themselves,” Kenneth Biel, a 47-year-old software engineer hailing from Chester, said. He added that he’s most impressed by Trump, DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, but he’s open to people “I disagree with.”
As former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ramaswamy squabbled over Trump’s presidency, both candidates drew occasional claps and cheers for their support, or lack thereof, for the former president.
Haley drew cheers from the crowd when the former South Carolina governor invoked former United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, chiming in when the nearly all-male field quarreled on stage.
“If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman,” quipped Haley.
Back in Haley’s home state, a crowd of around 20 people gathered at a Wild Wing Cafe in Greenville, South Carolina for a debate watch party hosted by Young Greenville, a Republican club. Following along with bingo cards of potential phrases or topics, the group of mostly 20-year-old voters paid close attention to the debate with animated reactions − DeSantis’ criticism of President Joe Biden’s economic and pandemic policies drew cheers and claps early on.
The bingo cards referenced GOP talking points ranging from Second Amendment rights to immigration reform to Hunter Biden.
The Florida governor was a crowd favorite in Greenville: a straw poll by the club at the end of the night, with about half of the attendees remaining, found that just over 60% preferred DeSantis as their first choice for president, and around 40% said he was their second.
Dakota Fitzgerald, 28 and a self-described “Trump all the way” voter, said even though she thought Haley came out strong early in the debate, she did not believe her former governor has what it takes.
“She’s not the nominee for me,” Fitzgerald, who works in IT development, said. “I don’t think she brings enough to the table. I don’t think she has a good enough track record, and I don’t know that she’s a solid enough patriot.”
When it came to Scott, the group of young voters had less to say about their senator.
Hayden Turlington, chairwoman of Young Greenville and a wealth advisor, said she thought Scott held his own on the debate stage. A DeSantis supporter though, Turlington said she couldn’t move past Scott’s recent criticism of the Florida governor and his state’s controversial curriculum changes.
“It left a bad taste in my mouth, his comments,” Turlington, 27, said. “They were not far off from Governor (Gavin) Newsom from California’s comments, and I don’t think he should ever be finding himself on the same side as a governor who is as far left as Governor Newsom.”
Abortion isn’t a catch-all issue for GOP voters
As the Republican candidates discussed abortion Wednesday night, touting anti-abortion accomplishments, some South Carolinians in the audience complained that Haley and Scott did not mention specific laws in their state.
“I think they missed a softball pitch that literally the day of the debate they could’ve talked about that exact subject and something that happened in their home state,” Chip Turlington, 26, said.
Earlier Wednesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the state’s six week abortion ban.
In the more libertarian-leaning state of New Hampshire, anti-abortion messaging largely fell on deaf ears.
While former Vice President Mike Pence’s unapologetic support for a federal abortion ban drew a muted response from the crowd, it was North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum’s support for leaving the issue to states that garnered wide applause from attendees.
Zack Hayes, 39, a software engineer from Northwood, said he personally is against abortion rights. But he said he would oppose a national ban on the procedure, calling it “too broad a policy.”
Which candidates were missed on the national debate stage?
Before the debate began, Pedro Mateo in South Carolina said he didn’t think any of the candidates on stage had “the sway” to take on Trump − a view he still held two hours later.
“At this point, until they’re able to sit down with Trump, I think unless they get a chance to really debate him, the majority of Americans are just going to think that Trump is just the clear choice,” Mateo, 28, said as the debate concluded.
Trump, the current GOP frontrunner, opted to sit out of the debate, writing on his Truth Social platform, “The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had.”
Mateo, chairman of the political engagement committee for Young Greenville, said he thinks it was in the former president’s best interest not to join in this initial debate.
“If he did show up, it would be an all-out assault on him,” Mateo said. “There’s enough talking points to use against him to really steal his thunder on the debate stage.”
Some viewers in New Hampshire bemoaned the debate’s qualification rules, saying they wished there were more candidates on the stage.
“There are a couple (candidates) that I would have liked to have seen on stage to hear more from them,” Tammy Garthewaite, a 59-year-old former lawmaker in New Hampshire’s state House from Manchester, said. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and conservative talk radio host Larry Elder were two candidates Garthewaite said she would have liked to see at the podium.
“How are people supposed to make their best choices if they can’t know everything?” Garthwaite remarked.
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