Nikki Haley Gets Boost From Chris Christie Exit, but Odds Against Trump Still Steep

ANKENY, Iowa—Chris Christie’s exit from the Republican primary race gives Nikki Haley a clear chance to corner the market among GOP voters looking for an alternative to Donald Trump. But she still faces a tough challenge in a party that has grown increasingly reliant on working-class Republicans—a group that overwhelmingly backs Trump.

Christie, the former New Jersey governor, was drawing such weak support in Iowa that his departure leaves few voters there up for grabs for Haley, the former South Carolina governor, or other candidates ahead of Monday’s caucuses, which start the presidential nominating contest.