Nikki Haley Spending Less Per Vote Than Other Candidates Amid Waste Claims

Nikki Haley didn't win the New Hampshire primary, but she is receiving a better return on investment than her former and current rivals in the Republican presidential primary.

After a convincing victory in the Iowa caucuses last week, former President Donald Trump defeated Haley, former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor, in the Granite State's "first-in-the-nation" primary Tuesday, and appears to have earned 21 delegates to Haley's nine.

Haley's campaign spent $7.2 million by the end of September, while her PAC spent $2.1 million through June, totaling $9.3 million in spending, according to the most recent available Federal Election Commission (FEC) data. Between Iowa and New Hampshire, Haley has received at least 158,731 votes, though New Hampshire continued counting ballots into Wednesday.

More recent data for the fourth quarter was not publicly available and may change that figure, as the months leading up to the race provided her strongest fundraising. Her campaign said she raised $24 million from October through December. At the end of the third quarter, Haley had more than $11 million cash on hand.

Using data from the third quarter, Haley has spent roughly $59 per vote in the first two nominating contests—a lower figure than Trump.

The former president spent nearly $23 million through September, while his Save America PAC spent roughly $30.2 million, according to FEC data. He received at least 228,122 votes in both Iowa and New Hampshire, meaning he spent roughly $232 per vote in the first two contests. But Trump has substantially more cash on hand, with a total of more than $37 million.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spent more than $2,000 per vote in his second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. He dropped out of the race before the New Hampshire primary. His campaign spent about $19 million through September, and his Never Back Down PAC spent about $34 million through June, according to FEC data.

Haley's third-place finish in Iowa cost her roughly $442 per vote. Iowa notably had much lower turnout than New Hampshire, causing all candidates to spend more cash per vote in the state. Candidates like DeSantis who did not make it past Iowa likely would have seen that figure drop if they continued to New Hampshire.

Trump ramped up attacks against Haley in his victory speech, but Haley held an optimistic and defiant tone, pledging to continue her campaign into the South Carolina GOP primary on February 24.

Trump and his supporters have questioned why Haley is staying in the race. The former president told Fox News she should exit the race and is forcing him to "waste money" on a primary instead of "spending it on [President] Joe Biden."

Newsweek reached out to Haley's campaign via email for comment.

Michael Bloomberg's 2020 presidential run, on which he spent more than $1 billion to receive roughly 2.5 million votes, has been viewed as among the costliest losing campaigns in U.S. history. He spent nearly $400 per vote, ultimately losing to President Joe Biden.

While Haley has spent less per vote than her chief Republican rival, she still faces daunting odds in South Carolina. The most recent independent polling of the Palmetto State showed Trump with a substantial lead. The Emerson College poll had Trump winning 54 percent of likely voters, while only 25 percent of voters said they would back Haley. It remains to be seen how voters who backed candidates like DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will break.