Jon Huntsman Looks To South Carolina After New Hampshire Primary Results

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman vowed to continue his campaign after placing third in New Hampshire's primary election on Tuesday night.

The presidential hopeful told his supporters, "I say third place is a ticket to ride, ladies and gentleman! Hello, South Carolina!" The optimistic words come after Huntsman invested significant time and resources in the Granite State.

HuffPost's Sam Stein and Amanda Terkel report:

Huntsman, for one, closed strongly in New Hampshire, with a populist, post-partisan message that brought him from a likely 5th place finish to a runaway bronze medalist.
...
Huntsman held 170 public events in New Hampshire -- the equivalent of 20 events per percentage point of the vote he received --and still only came in third. Few states will, like New Hampshire, provide him with the type of independent electorate that is drawn to his candidacy.

Jon Huntsman Sr., the Republican candidate's father and a billionaire, would not commit to investing more money in his son's campaign for the White House when asked about the matter by Mother Jones on Tuesday night.

A powerful chemical titan, Jon Sr. has played a key role supporting his son's candidacy. He helped finance a super-PAC called Our Destiny that's spent $2.1 million so far backing Huntsman Jr.

Before all the votes were counted on Tuesday night, BuzzFeed reported:

BuzzFeed spoke to two Huntsman family friends in Utah, who requested anonymity to comment on what one described as "the delicate issue of intra-family contributions." But both said Huntsman Sr. expects a return on investment--even on his son's presidential campaign.

The website points out that members of Huntsman's family have made generous contributions to political efforts of rival contender Mitt Romney in past election cycles.

A recent survey from Public Policy Polling found that if Stephen Colbert were on the Republican primary ballot in South Carolina, the Comedy Central star would hold a razor-thin lead over Huntsman.

The former governor was asked about the poll during an appearance on Fox News before the results of New Hampshire's primary were announced.

"When I was on his show recently he promised me the Colbert bump," Huntsman said. He added that he hoped to get the "Colbert bump" in the Granite State and would be looking for the same thing in South Carolina.

Related on HuffPost:

 

 

Comments

[glers]

11:30 AM on 01/12/2012

How come so many GOP candidates have Blond trophy wives? are they concealing their closet homosexuality?

[shipfixr]

12:06 PM on 01/12/2012

No, only people who comment on same are doing that.....

[sks504]

02:51 PM on 01/12/2012

You must not think much of women.

[amayesinc]

10:53 AM on 01/12/2012

It is amazing how many people running for high offices are either themselves or are relatives of millionaires or billionaires. Is it a coincidence that the largest benefactors of our political system do NOT come from the middle class whao pays the bulk of the taxes?

[shipfixr]

12:08 PM on 01/12/2012

What's 'amazing' is how few of you are over commenting on Jon Corzine right now. Go read and comment on the article about his ex-employee's party......

[garylinn]

10:53 AM on 01/12/2012

Romney is on a roll and will win SC....I didn't think that two weeks ago, but, he's changed my mind

[legitane]

08:02 AM on 01/12/2012

If I were President ( ha !)..I'd name this man Secretary of State.. he seems a man of character, honesty and willing to serve our great nation...
Too bad he is in the rat race with bigger and meaner rats....

[shipfixr]

12:09 PM on 01/12/2012

Right on all counts.

[aearthling59]

10:04 PM on 01/11/2012

No one in the media has asked him about his pro amnesty stance.

[shipfixr]

12:10 PM on 01/12/2012

Well, since you bring it up......why don't YOU tell us?

[koos458]

08:55 PM on 01/11/2012

GOP: Died of a constituency.

[shipfixr]

12:11 PM on 01/12/2012

LIB: Lying Inane Bums. (makes about as much sense)

[koos458]

03:16 PM on 01/12/2012

Paraphrasing what Jefferson Davis said of the Confederacy.

[mikedavid1]

07:45 PM on 01/11/2012

Huntsman would do better to donate the millions he is spending for a futile campaign to the SBA and give entrepenours a chance to realize their dreams....and create jobs...actually, it is getting tougher by the month considering hundreds of new regulations coming from the administration...we may well be witnessing the end of middleclass entrepenourship.

[shipfixr]

12:13 PM on 01/12/2012

I think it would do a lot for small business if ALL the candidates did the same thing.....just think what Obama's billion dollars could do.......

[cog702]

07:19 PM on 01/11/2012

Well, they hit SC next... Now the real facts about them will come out. I wonder how many have little black babies out of wedlock this time. Or will it be that one or more are gay? SC where the truth never stays in the way of facts.

[cog702]

07:17 PM on 01/11/2012

Jon, Jon you need to start and run as a third party candidate.

[se72748]

06:44 PM on 01/11/2012

I salute Jon Huntsman as the only republican in the field with a brain an true sense of patriotism.There is not a patriot in the entire Romney family.Huntsman has two kids in the military.Romney has none.Huntsman is infinatly more qualified to be President then Romney.I would hope the S.Carolina republicans would realize this and vote accordingly,but ,I fear my hopes would be in vain.God bless America.God bless Barack Obama the next president of the U.S.A.

[aearthling59]

10:00 PM on 01/11/2012

If you want a statesman, Huntsman,but I think if you want someone to focus on jobs Romney will get rid of a lot of barriers to creating jobs in this country. There is no perfect candidate, they all have different views and experience but I know one thing any of them had more experience than our present president who left the job of governing and leading up to Pelosi and Reid for the first two years and I'd like to see the three of them, gone.

[shipfixr]

12:17 PM on 01/12/2012

I think Huntsman would do at least as well as Romney in both areas. There certainly IS no perfect candidate.....I just think Huntsman comes closer to the mark. Of COURSE Obama left the job of governing to those two.....he had campaigning to do between vacations....

[longeye67]

06:00 PM on 01/11/2012

Huntsman says all the "right" things to appeal to the Southern GOP base but he's a Mormon and that will not sit well with the Evangelical Christian folks who comprise most of the party in S.C. Guys from Utah may think that the LDS is mainstream, it's not.

[shipfixr]

12:21 PM on 01/12/2012

Unfortunately for Romney, he faces the same thing. Evangelical 'Christians' are tolerant of only ONE kind of Christian....guys like Huntsman, who feel they were born O.K. the first time, aren't seen as part of the flock.

[rayjaywright]

05:59 PM on 01/11/2012

Jon Huntsman is a non-starter. It's almost like a bad line in a left wing sitcom: "the GOP are so hard up to find a candidate they've actually begun to look for one from among Obama Administration staffers." It ain't gonna happen, Jon. You placed 3rd in a state in which you put all of your effort and your dad's money and it didn't pan out. It wasn't even an impressive 3rd place (if there is such a thing). You were 6 percentage points behind 2nd place and the 1st place winner was well more than double your vote. You said awhile back you'd quit if you didn't win New Hampshire. That's your best move now.

[shipfixr]

12:24 PM on 01/12/2012

You're probably right, unfortunately. Having served the Obama administration says a lot of good things about the man....certainly not the administration.
If you think Huntsman's showing in NH wasn't good, how about Perry who didn't even beat the write-in votes? Wonder when HE will give it up?

[374662]

05:56 PM on 01/11/2012

He should go back on Colbert's show and talk about looking for a running mate. Huntsman-Colbert 2012. Or as Colbert would put it Colbert-Huntsmand 2012 and beyond.

[mactownfun]

05:49 PM on 01/11/2012

I like Huntsman, but I'm a little disappointed that he thinks he has a prayer anywhere in the south, especially South Carolina. That's a lot of money to waste on advertising for nothing. Unfortunately, the GOP's base mantra of Anybody but Romney doesn't include Huntsman, or even crazy Grandpa Paul. It's a wise man who knows his limitations. No wise men in this crowd, not even Huntsman. Give it up Jonboy, come over to the light next time and bring Daddy's money. You might have a chance as a Dem, but you're way too smart and honest to win the darkside GOP ticket.

[noknrc]

05:40 PM on 01/11/2012

Huntsman is an unknown I do not think he even attended the first two debates. Romney is the best choice to beat Obama because of his home state. Romney would win the New England states which are a must win for Obama. This could even make New York a battleground state.

[rush5417]

06:23 PM on 01/11/2012

The first two debates were not worth attendiing. Nothing but political theatre that was less than boring. Although I have a problem with Huntsman's view on some of his issues, he is logical when explainining what he stands for. Not the usual campaign non-sense..

[noknrc]

09:55 AM on 01/12/2012

The problem is . Unless he starts making an impact I would never have the opportunity to vote for him. By the time the primary process gets to my state the field will be leaned out.
In 2008 the primary republican choice was McCain and Hillary and Obama on the democrat ticket.

[aearthling59]

10:02 PM on 01/11/2012

google Wiki

[noknrc]

09:57 AM on 01/12/2012

You might be right. The problem is if he does not start showing good signs he will probably drop out by the time the primaries get to my state.