by Mary Lou Masters
Former President Donald Trump has a 16-point lead on the remaining Republican contenders in New Hampshire just days ahead of the first-in-the-nation primary on Jan. 23, according to a Wednesday poll.
Trump is ahead of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley 50% to 34% among likely voters in the Granite State, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis received only 5% support and 6% of respondents remain undecided, according to a Suffolk University/Boston Globe/NBC-10 survey. The poll is the first survey that did not include conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy or former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, as they both have since dropped out of the race.
“New Hampshire voters will reject Nikki Haley on Tuesday because she is a high tax, open borders globalist who is funded by Democrat donors and will put America last,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign national spokeswoman, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement.
Additionally, support for Trump and Haley has risen by 4 and 8 points, respectively, while DeSantis has dropped by 3 points since the poll was previously conducted in early January.
“Haley’s had a tough week: underperforming in Iowa, trying to answer Trump’s attacks on her positions on Social Security and immigration, and the recent [Vivek] Ramaswamy endorsement of Trump helping him with younger GOP voters,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, told The Boston Globe. “Still there is time to at least close the gap with undecided voters or even with some Trump voters, and pull Trump below 50.”
Trump handily won the Iowa caucus on Monday with 51% support, followed by DeSantis at 21.2%, Haley at 19.1% and Ramaswamy at 7.7%, according to The Associated Press. Ramaswamy dropped out of the race that evening, throwing his support behind the former president instead.
Christie focused his campaign solely on New Hampshire, and had been polling in the low double digits before withdrawing from the race on Jan. 10.
The RealClearPolitics (RCP) average for a 2024 Republican primary in New Hampshire, based on polls conducted between Jan. 4 and Jan. 16, indicates Trump is ahead by 13.2 points, followed by Haley with 31.3%, Christie with 11%, Ramaswamy with 6% and DeSantis with 5.8%.
The former ambassador has the support of New Hampshire GOP Gov. Chris Sununu, and has been spending a significant amount of time on the campaign trail in the Granite State.
Haley is also in second place in her home state of South Carolina with 21.8% support compared to Trump’s 52%, with DeSantis sitting at 11%, according to the RCP average.
The Suffolk University/Boston Globe/NBC-10 poll surveyed 500 likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire between Jan. 15 and Jan. 16 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4%.
Neither Haley nor DeSantis’ campaigns immediately responded to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
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Mary Lou Masters is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photos “Nikki Haley” and “Ron DeSantis” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “Voting Booths” by Tim Evanson. CC BY-SA 2.0.
