A rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden that many voters dread formally began Wednesday when Republican Nikki Haley suspended her campaign after a series of humbling setbacks that culminated in coast-to-coast defeats.

Haley halted her campaign six days before Georgia’s presidential primary, effectively ending the Republican primary season after a Super Tuesday wipeout.

The early finale to what was once expected to be an intense nomination gauntlet pivoted to a general election campaign that puts Georgia squarely in the middle of both campaign’s strategies.

The split-screen contrast between the two adversaries will be on display this weekend, when Biden and Trump hold dueling events Saturday targeting their most loyal supporters in Georgia.

Credit: NYT

Credit: NYT

Republicans see little chance of victory if Trump fails to recapture Georgia, which Biden won by less than 12,000 votes in 2020. It was the first time a Democrat carried the state in nearly three decades.

While Biden’s camp doesn’t view Georgia as a must win — the swing states in the Upper Midwest are likely a higher priority — they’ll fight to keep Georgia in the blue column and force Republicans to spend time and treasure in the state.

As dominant as Trump’s performance was on Tuesday, Haley’s collapse still raises questions about the former president’s comeback. Perhaps the foremost is whether her voters, who topped 40% in some states, will gravitate to Trump, back Biden, support a third-party contender or stay home.

Haley attracted a mix of old-guard Republicans, “Never Trumpers,” independent voters and disaffected Democrats. It’s a voting bloc that resembles the quirky coalition that proved decisive in Georgia’s 2022 midterm races.

That’s when swing voters who cast ballots for both Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock propelled the two incumbents to a rare split-ticket victory.

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Eric Tanenblatt, a longtime operative who is one of Haley’s foremost supporters in Georgia, echoed her case that Trump must now earn the backing of her voters.

“Nikki had staying power where so many others fizzled because she represented something that many Republicans still want in a president: a calm, rational voice who won’t bend to tyrants,” Tanenblatt said.

He added: “It’s up to President Trump to unite our party by demonstrating to Haley’s supporters they have a place under the tent.”

Kemp put it a different way at a business conference this week. He stayed neutral in the race but has long said he would vote for Trump if he’s the nominee despite their tortured history.

The second-term Republican has also warned Republicans that Trump could lose if the contest becomes a “race to the bottom” and has repeatedly encouraged the former president and his allies to highlight their vision for the future rather than obsess over his 2020 loss.

“A lot of people will be voting for the lesser of two evils,” Kemp said, adding: “Where that small group in the middle goes, or doesn’t go, is really going to decide the race.”

Still, he and other Republicans who have faced Trump’s wrath have said they would support him over Biden. Insurance Commissioner John King, who defeated a Trump-backed challenger in 2022, took to social media to post his endorsement in Spanish.

“Four more years of Biden would threaten the survival of the American dream,” said King, the first statewide Latino elected official in Georgia history, “and that is why we have to end it.”

‘Never seen anything like it’

As much as Haley’s campaign exposed fractures in the Republican electorate, Biden’s path to another nomination highlighted his own vulnerabilities.

Tens of thousands of voters in the key battlegrounds of Michigan and Minnesota cast ballots for “uncommitted” rather than support Biden in protest of his pro-Israel foreign policy.

While there’s no such option on Georgia’s ballot, there’s a movement among some liberal activists and Palestinian groups to cast blank ballots in next week’s primary in protest.

State Rep. Ruwa Romman, Georgia’s first Palestinian American legislator, said the idea is spreading like “wildfire” in liberal circles ahead of next week’s primary.

“It’s completely grassroots,” the Duluth Democrat said. “I’ve never seen anything like it and hope that no matter the outcome people listen.”

The slaying of nursing student Laken Riley also called national attention to Biden’s immigration policy after authorities charged a Venezuela native who is accused of illegally crossing the border in her death.

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And with polls showing Biden in a tight race against Trump in Georgia and other competitive states, Democrats worry about reforging the tattered coalition of liberals, Black voters and suburban moderates that underpinned his 2020 win. Party leaders acknowledge the daunting task ahead.

“There’s a lot of time between now and November,” U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, the chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, said in an interview.

“Georgia Democrats have been counted out before,” she said, “and we’ll continue to show up in force to make sure we’re supporting the policies that deliver for all Georgians.”

Warnock, too, expressed confidence that the party’s base will return to Biden’s fold. After steering clear of the president during his 2022 reelection bid, Warnock has again become one of Biden’s most important surrogates.

“The president will be here in a few days, I’m proud of the work that we’ve been able to do,” he told the “Politically Georgia” podcast. “And we need to finish the job.”