Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was in Claremont on Tuesday, the first of three planned campaign stops in New Hampshire this week.

While former President Donald Trump dominates GOP polls ahead of the New Hampshire primary, Haley has gained ground on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. A recent poll shows both with the support of about 10 percent of Republicans, compared to 47 for Trump.

At a crowded Claremont Senior Center, Haley talked about why she’s running.

“I knew for the sake of my kids and yours that we needed to do something,” she said.

And she listed some of the issues she hopes to tackle if elected to the White House, including the overdose crisis and immigration.

“We had enough fentanyl cross that border last year that would kill every single American,” she said. “75,000 people died of fentanyl last year.”

Later, Haley took a handful of questions from the audience, and she took shots at President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

She also discussed Trump, who faces four indictments but remains the well ahead of Haley and the rest of the GOP hopefuls.frontrunner.

“While I think he was the right president at the right time and I support many of his policies, I think it’s time for our country to move forward because we can’t continue living in the past,” she said.

MANY who came out Tuesday said that while they just recently began paying attention to Haley’s campaign, they prefer over other Republican candidates.

[Gary Bedard / Lives in Charlestown, NH]

“I know that the country needs a change,” said Gary Bedard of Charlestown, New Hampshire. “She sounds like the person that’s going to facilitate that change. She’s going to be a very formidable opponent to the liberal side of the equation.”

Haley has two more stops in New Hampshire this week. On Wednesday, she’ll make appearances in Manchester and Merrimack. She told the Claremont crowd that she is planning dozens more trips to the Granite State over the next six months.