The New Hampshire Republican primary has taken on high stakes, with former President Donald Trump and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley competing for a win that could decisively shift the trajectory of the race for the GOP nomination. Historically, the New Hampshire winner has gone on to capture the Republican selection in the last four presidential cycles.

Currently, polls show Trump retaining a lead in the state with around 50% support. Haley trails the former president by 11 points.

Yahoo Finance's Rachelle Akuffo and Akiko Fujita break down the details.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Editor's note: This article was written by Angel Smith

Video Transcript

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AKIKO FUJITA: Time now for our Chart of the Day. And today, we are talking politics. Former President Trump and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley vying to come out on top in the New Hampshire primary tonight. And if the past is any indication, a victory in the Granite State could bode well for the path to the White House.

The GOP winner of the New Hampshire primaries has gone on to win the party's nomination in the last four presidential elections. That did not include an incumbent, that's according to Axios. The common thread for those candidates, they all lost the Iowa caucus.

Haley is looking to become the fifth candidate to do that, but she still trails Trump in polls there. And Rachelle, we are expecting the polls over in New Hampshire to begin closing at 7:00 PM Eastern. The last one closes at 8:00 PM Eastern. Results expected after that, but the latest polling here since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race shows the former president widening his lead.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: No, absolutely. It's interesting the data that came out from Axios. Because, obviously, when you think about previous candidates, in this situation when it comes to former President Trump, a bit of an anomaly. This is someone who didn't show up to the debates, something that you've normally seen candidates do and yet still has this hold on the party. And Nikki Haley even joking on the campaign trail, you know, Iowa starts it, you know that you correct it talking about New Hampshire voters.

So it'll be interesting to see if the dynamics change. She does obviously have a much stronger lead than some of the other contenders. And so many have now fallen out as you mentioned.

Ron DeSantis out. Vivek Ramaswamy had fallen back as well. Both of them though throwing their support behind Donald Trump. So we'll have to see if-- this isn't going to be your mother's election, put it that way, as we continue to watch some of these more nuanced issues play out here in these primaries.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, you've got New Hampshire and then South Carolina, which is, of course Nikki Haley's home state. So the Haley camp certainly hoping to find some kind of silver lining here. If the polls hold true though, it could be certainly tough given that the former president now showing a double-digit lead.