Nikki Haley is the big winner of Chris Christie's exit from the presidential race, as the other normie Republican realized he lacked the support to stop Trump

• Nikki Haley stands to benefit in a significant way with ex-NJ Gov. Chris Christie's exit from the GOP field.
• Christie was competing for many of the same sort of GOP voters that Haley had also been attracting.
• But Haley has been adept at needling the thread when it comes to Trump, making her an option for many conservatives.

With former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's expected exit from the 2024 presidential race, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's campaign has a clear opportunity to blunt former President Donald Trump's potential sweep of the early-nominating contests.

While Haley isn't running the sort of stridently anti-Trump campaign that Christie employed throughout his second White House campaign, both of the former governors have attracted support from many center-right Republicans and independents who are wary of another Trump candidacy.

And now Haley is the only one standing who has in many ways been the most successful candidate to thread the needle with Trump as a former UN ambassador in his administration who is also calling for generational change for the GOP.

Here's why Christie's exit is so significant for Haley's campaign:

Granite State consolidation

The three most recent New Hampshire Republican primary polls showed the dilemma Haley faced in the state before Christie exited the race.

In the latest American Research Group poll among likely GOP primary voters, Trump led Haley 37% to 33%, with 10% for Christie.

Meanwhile, in the University of New Hampshire/CNN Granite State poll results released on Tuesday, Trump led Haley 39% to 32% among likely GOP primary voters; Christie was in third place with 12% support.

And in the latest USA TODAY/Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll, Trump was ahead by a more robust 20-point spread over Haley (46%-26%) among likely GOP voters, with 12% going toward Christie and 8% going toward Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

While Trump boasts leads in all three polls, the former president is well below 50% support with single-digit leads in two of the surveys.

Christie attracted many of the same sort of Republicans who may have initially backed Trump, but increasingly grew wary of his polarizing statements and views. Haley is in the same boat, but her GOP coalition is broader because she's rejected criticizing Trump as much as Christie.

And many of Christie's New Hampshire supporters will also be thrilled with Haley because of one simple fact: She's not Trump.

Blunting Trump's momentum

A near-win or an outright win by Haley in New Hampshire would give her an opportunity to stop a Trump sweep should he win Iowa, and it would also likely boost her standing in South Carolina — where she served as governor from 2011 to 2017 but where Trump remains in a strong position to win due to his longstanding support from Southern conservatives.

And a robust showing in South Carolina would set her up to chip away at Trump's gargantuan leads in the Super Tuesday states and give her a chance at being the main rival to the former president in the fight for the GOP nomination.