Retired Gen. Don Bolduc enlisted to herd N.H. GOP voters toward Haley

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley deployed two-time failed Senate candidate Don Bolduc with an ad targeting Republicans who like the “MAGA” agenda but are worried former President Donald Trump cannot win in November.

Mr. Bolduc, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general who lost the 2020 Senate primary and 2022 general election in the Granite State, says he’s “always been America First [but] this time, I’m for Nikki Haley for president.”

“With Trump, there’s too many distractions,” Mr. Bolduc says in the 30-second ad that first aired Friday. “There’s too much risk of losing. Nikki’s a strong conservative. She’ll take Joe Biden to the cleaners, and she’ll make our country proud.”

Ms. Haley trails Mr. Trump significantly in polling but tends to have the smallest double-digit gap in New Hampshire, a state that could serve as a springboard for her primary ambitions.

Mr. Bolduc has name recognition in New Hampshire because he beat an establishment-favored candidate in the 2022 GOP primary for Senate. Mr. Trump did not endorse a candidate in that race but called Mr. Bolduc a “strong” and “tough” guy.

Mr. Bolduc lost the general election to Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan.

He made waves by claiming the 2020 election was rigged, though reversed his stance later, and by calling New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu a “Chinese Communist sympathizer.”

The Haley campaign is promoting Mr. Bolduc as a veteran with extensive military experience and the ability to win over key voters.

Mr. Bolduc endorsed Ms. Haley in February, right after she entered the presidential race.

“General Bolduc is an American hero who served our country above and beyond the call of duty,” Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said. “Nikki is winning over Granite State voters of all sorts, from former Trump supporters to grassroots Republicans to Independents. That’s the winning formula for beating Joe Biden in a landslide, which is what all the polls show she will do.”