Nikki Haley in a must-win situation in NH primary against Trump

(21 January 2024) After Donald Trump’s big win in the Iowa caucus last week, the momentum is building for the former president in the race for the GOP nomination. Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis are well back of Trump in the polls with the New Hampshire primary set for this Tuesday, January 23. Haley has spent a lot of time and money in the state and had been hoping to upset Trump but the latest polls show her about 15 points behind him. If she loses New Hampshire, then the race will essentially be over given that Trump’s lead is 30 points in the next primary state of South Carolina.

Based on her untimed horoscope (Jan 20, 1972), the planets do not favour Nikki Haley in Tuesday’s contest. Mercury will be in a fairly close conjunction with Mars on Tuesday and will conjoin her natal Mercury. While this could represent some significant developments for her, it is not particularly beneficial. Also we can see that the Mercury-Mars conjunction will square her natal Mars. Mars-Mars alignments often coincide with conflict and stressful situations (such as elections!) but are usually unhelpful and do not support the notion of an upset win for her.

The bigger problem in her chart right now is that Saturn is conjunct her natal Venus at 11 Aquarius. Saturn tends to block or delay rewards, and when it is associated with Venus it often marks disappointment and sadness. It is hard to see Haley winning NH with her Venus afflicted by Saturn.

Some observers have suggested that she only needs to be a strong second in order to stay in the race. That could be technically true, but if she loses by 15 points or more, then her campaign will likely start to lose donors and volunteers.

And if we look at Trump’s chart, we can see that transiting Venus (6 Sagittarius) will be exactly aligned with the Ascendant (6 Leo) on Tuesday. This is usually a positive transit and suggests that he will be pleased with the outcome. Even if Haley’s campaign makes an argument for a strong second place finish, it seems more likely that Trump will be the de facto nominee after Tuesday.