Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defied expectations to claim a second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses but now faces long odds in two primary contests that could make or break his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.
Mr. DeSantis and Ms. Haley are locked in a battle to become the single Republican alternative to President Donald Trump, who won Iowa with 51 percent of the vote.
“In spite of all that they threw at us, we’ve got our ticket punched out of Iowa,” Mr. DeSantis said after the caucuses, indicating that Iowa voters had recommended him to the rest of the country as one of the top choices for president.
Yet as the campaign moves to New Hampshire, then South Carolina, the stakes rise for Mr. DeSantis, who trails Ms. Haley by a wide margin in the polls and appears poised to challenge President Trump directly.
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