Haley and DeSantis meet in one on one debate that could help decide the GOP alternative to Trump

DES MOINES, Iowa — Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis were alone on the debate stage Wednesday for the first time as they wage an increasingly contentious push to become the primary alternative to Donald Trump. The stakes are high for both Haley, the former U.N. ambassador, and DeSantis, the Florida governor.

They hope that a strong debate performance in Iowa without their lower polling rivals by their side will lift their campaigns in the final days before Monday's caucuses, where a good showing could provide much needed momentum as the campaign for the GOP presidential nomination intensifies. The moment is especially important for Haley, a politician long known for her disciplined approach to messaging.

That reputation has been tested recently after a series of gaffes, including her failure to mention slavery as the root cause of the Civil War and a quip that New Hampshire voters will have a chance to ''correct'' the results that emerge from Iowa. Hours before Haley and DeSantis took the stage, New Jersey Gov.

Chris Christie announced he was dropping out of the race, a curveball with major implications. Christie, by far the most aggressive Trump critic running for the GOP nomination, had faced intense pressure to step aside so opponents of the former president could unify behind a single candidate and improve the odds of dethroning the frontrunner.

Christie, along with biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, did not qualify for Wednesday's debate after appearing in earlier events. For all the attention on Haley and DeSantis, the commanding front runner in the race will again be absent. Trump, who is aiming to quickly close in on securing his third consecutive GOP nomination, is skipping the debate hosted by CNN and instead appearing on Fox News.

The debate offers Haley a chance to reset a campaign that has come under fresh scrutiny by everyone from her GOP rivals to President Joe Biden, a sign that her opponents in both parties see her as a rising contender. While she is likely to pay more attention to Trump as her allies argue she's the only person equipped to beat him, DeSantis is expected to train his focus on Haley.

''Now she's in a situation where she's getting scrutiny, and it's almost like every day she answers questions, something happens where she's putting her foot in her mouth,'' DeSantis told reporters Tuesday after appearing on a Fox News Channel town hall. After several debates filled with candidates who likely have minimal chances to win the nomination, many expected caucusgoers said they planned to pay close attention to a debate featuring Trump's main opponents.

Some of Haley's strongest moments have come during the previous four debates, as she has sparred with her onstage rivals. A CNN/UNH poll conducted in New Hampshire this week suggested that Haley could be approaching Trump's top spot in the state. About 4 in 10 likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire chose Trump, while about one third picked Haley.

While for months she's taken questions at many of her campaign events, styled as town halls during which she entertains questions from the gathered crowd, Haley has rarely spoken with the reporters covering her events, held news conferences or sat for print interviews. She did not speak to reporters after her own Fox News town hall on Monday, a day before DeSantis' appearance.

Haley would say a day after her original Civil War comment that ''of course'' slavery was a root cause. But she has been asked repeatedly about the remark, lending more fodder to her opponents. DeSantis has been quick to try to turn some of Haley's words against her. He's repeatedly brought up her comment that New Hampshire would ''correct'' Iowa's results — something that Haley later said was a joke about the rivalry between the two early voting states.

Trump has also ramped up his attacks of Haley as she gets more attention. In recent weeks, his campaign has accused her of not being conservative enough on immigration and for proposing, while serving as South Carolina's governor, to raise the state's gas tax as part of a broader budget package that ultimately wasn't adopted.

___ Price reported from New York. ___ Follow the AP's coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election 2024..