Nikki Haley RISE in Republican race: Another poll shows her in second place behind Trump while DeSantis continues to struggle in third place
- Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has solidified her second-place finish in New Hampshire, which is hosting the nation’s first primary
- In four of the last five polls in the Granite State, Haley is ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
- Former President Donald Trump remains in the lead by around 30 points
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley solidified her second-place finish in New Hampshire with a poll released Wednesday, beating Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by a comfortable nine points.
A USA TODAY/Boston Globe/Suffolk poll shows Haley has the support of 19 percent of likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire.
Former President Donald Trump maintains his large lead, drawing the support of 49 percent of likely Republican primary voters in the Granite State.
DeSantis – once seen as Trump’s biggest political threat – is now in third place with 10 percent support.
No other GOP candidate is polling in double digits – former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is at 6 percent, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott are both at 4 percent, and former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are at 1 percent.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley solidified her second-place finish in New Hampshire in a poll released Wednesday
While Trump is still the frontrunner, Haley has moved to a solid second place in New Hampshire, which will host the country’s first primary next year
While Trump dominates, the poll found voters were roughly even on the question of whether winning the nomination was inevitable.
48 percent believed this was the case, while another 44 percent said it was not.
The survey’s margin of error was plus/minus 4.4 percent.
39 percent of respondents said they could change their mind before the primary.
Haley is coming off two strong debate performances — and while DeSantis also received high marks for his performance on the Simi Valley debate stage last week, early state polls have not yet shown him getting a boost from it.
Instead, Haley has become more dominant in New Hampshire — which will host the nation’s first GOP primary next year — and the Real Clear Politics polling average shows her solidly in second place.
She has beaten DeSantis in the last four of five polls in New Hampshire.
Former President Donald Trump (left) still has an impressive lead in the Granite State, while Haley has overtaken Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (right).
Haley began overtaking the Florida governor in polls in New Hampshire late last month, and her lead continues to grow.
The averages show Trump with 45 percent support, Haley with 14.2 percent support and DeSantis with 10.4 percent support.
Christie is also doing better in the Real Clear Politics polling average than in the USA Today poll – at 9 percent among New Hampshire voters.
Christie ignored Iowa – the state that holds the primary Republican caucuses on January 15, with the New Hampshire primary following shortly after – and focused solely on the Granite State.
Haley still has a lot of work to do in Iowa if she wants to become Trump’s primary opponent.
In the Hawkeye State, she remains a distant third, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average – Trump at 49.2 percent, DeSantis at 16 percent and Haley at 8.8 percent.
That being said, New Hampshire has a tradition of electing a candidate other than whoever wins the Iowa caucuses — for example, giving Trump his first victory in 2016 after Sen. Ted Cruz won the primary.
In 2008, when now-former President Barack Obama stunned and won the Iowa caucuses, the Democratic primary became a slog when New Hampshire voters chose Hillary Clinton instead.
The latest poll in South Carolina, home to the South’s first primary, also contains some good news for Haley, who served as the state’s governor from 2011 to 2017 before Trump chose her as his ambassador to the United Nations.
A poll conducted by Winthrop University shows Trump is a clear favorite – he currently has the support of 51 percent of South Carolina voters.
However, Haley has overtaken DeSantis — and is in second place with 17 percent support — compared to the Republican governor’s 12 percent.