Asa Hutchinson's 2024 campaign isn't breaking through, but he says he's 'full speed ahead'

In the lower level of a public library in Plymouth, New Hampshire, on a recent Wednesday afternoon, seven potential voters trickled into a meet-and-greet with former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, still seeking the Republican nomination for president in an increasingly long shot bid.

While the room was set up to seat 18 people, most chairs sat empty, aside from the "Asa for America" flyers placed on each.

Vin Broderick, a Hutchinson supporter, welcomed the candidate. "Thank you for coming to our small, intimate group here," he said.

"Well, we're the small but mighty group," Hutchinson replied, smiling back in a Navy blazer and blue jeans, with his white hair neatly combed over. "That's what New Hampshire is about. It's about growing the base of support."

Broderick had invited three people with him; together, they made up most of the audience. That included his sister -- a supporter of President Joe Biden.

Seated at the front of the semi-circle, Hutchinson introduced his career in public service, which spans four decades, and what he called "a consistent conservative" message. He asked each person if they had a question and, after about an hour, closed with an appeal to help him organize with about a month to go until the first votes are cast in the primary race.

The gathering was an example of Hutchinson's continued commitment to campaigning despite much evidence that Republican voters are all that interested in what he has to say.

But rather than follow in the footsteps of other 2024 hopefuls like former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who dropped out amid tepid poll numbers and public support, Hutchinson said the narrowing field of candidates is precisely why he's going to stick it out against front-runner Donald Trump, whom Hutchinson vocally opposes.

"We're open to ideas," Hutchinson told attendees at the library. "Encourage your friends and neighbors ... because that's how they know that we're here. So help us, and we're going to fight this battle. And I think we're going to have some success."

After failing to qualify for the second debate stage, and any debate stage thereafter, Hutchinson initially set a self-imposed goal to poll at 4% in an early voting state by Thanksgiving -- a marker he did not reach -- or else he indicated that he would leave the race.

Now, he says he believes it's better for him to stay in as a contrast to Trump.

"Narrowing that field did not help in terms of weakening Donald Trump, so I think the other voices are important, including myself," he told ABC News in New Hampshire last week.

"It becomes more urgent, my candidacy, whenever you look at the most recent polls in Iowa. With eight people dropping out of the race, the argument was that somehow that strengthens the opposition [against Trump] but, in fact, Donald Trump's numbers went up," he said. "So the voices that are there that provide an alternative message are actually important for success. That is persuasive to me."

Since Pence ended his campaign in late October, Scott and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum have also suspended their bids -- and their supporters did not rally around one of remaining Trump rivals, like former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or Hutchinson.

Instead, Trump has seen a rise in national polls, from 57% on Oct. 31 to about 63% on Monday, according to 538's average tracker. He also maintains double-digit leads in early states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

Hutchinson, however, remains in the low single digits eight months after launching his campaign in April on a platform of classic conservative priorities. He's struggled to pull the crowds of his competitors in Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as the donors.

His longtime campaign manager, Rob Burgess, left at the end of October, not seeing a viable pathway to the nomination. Hutchinson has since brought in Alison Williams, an aide from his time in Congress and while he was at the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.

Despite those challenges, Hutchinson insists he's "full speed ahead" and pointed to his filing to be on the primary ballot in states like Colorado, Michigan and Texas as "a strong signal that we're in this to continue on, even far beyond those early states."

Hutchinson won't be on the ballot in two of the four early voting states, telling ABC News that he had to make strategic decisions.

He said he didn't file in South Carolina because of Haley's influence there and that with Nevada having a dueling state-run primary and party-run caucus, it's "shaped up as pretty much a fixed deal for Donald Trump."

"I looked at the map, and I've got my best chance of getting delegates in those Super Tuesday states [that vote in March]," Hutchinson said last Thursday, "and that's what we're focused."

'You're running for president?'

Hutchinson's anti-Trump message -- including calling for him to leave the face amid his unprecedented criminal charges, which he denies -- hasn't always been welcome.

Hutchinson has been booed at events in Iowa for warning against the former president and, earlier this month, he said he wasn't invited to a notable forum where even lesser-known candidate Ryan Binkley, a Texas pastor, took the stage.

"I have asked for an explanation, but I have heard none," Hutchinson said at the time. "Perhaps the reason is that my candidacy is a threat to the candidate others are trying to protect."

A day after his library meet-and-greet in New Hampshire and 100 miles away, Hutchinson was invited to speak at a Rotary Club meeting in Portsmouth, introducing himself to potential voters as a fellow Rotarian himself. But some attendees hadn't heard of him before that day, though Hutchinson had spent at least 20 days campaigning in the state.

When he approached Stanford Cross, Cross repeated to make sure he understood -- "You're running for president?" -- and rushed to extend his hand.

Cross, who said he voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 but is undecided for 2024, told ABC News he liked Hutchinson's speech, talking about balancing budgets and securing the border, but, "Before today, [I'd] never heard of him."

Hutchinson, having the attention of a relatively larger crowd -- at least 40 potential voters -- politely differentiated himself from competitors in the primary field whom Cross said he had heard of: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, DeSantis, Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. He tried to assure those listening that he did, in fact, have a pathway to win.

"We've had eight candidates that have dropped out and so the field has narrowed. Widened my lane, given me greater opportunity," he said, adding, "My path to winning this race is through you."

Rotary Club member Francoise Missner, who has lived in New Hampshire for 25 years, said she enjoyed Hutchinson's speech and found it "unfortunate" she hadn't heard much about him before.

"Gov. Hutchinson seems like a very decent man, and I think would make a great president," she said even as she conceded that she favors Haley at the moment. "It would be nice to have a woman president, and she also has a lot of experience as a governor."

With just weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire's primary, where he is directing his efforts, Hutchinson said he wants Ramaswamy's voters, in particular, to consider supporting him instead.

And he said he wants all of the candidates to do more to take on the front-runner.

If they're all going to stay in the race, they should speak out about Trump as much as possible, he suggested.

"I've been very clear and vocal on my disagreements with President Trump. It's gotten me in a little bit of trouble," he told voters in Plymouth. "And that is trouble -- it's a hard message, because I'm telling people something that they really don't want to hear, but it's important in this campaign to be clear as to why we think Donald Trump's not the right direction for our country."