Trump holds lead over DeSantis in New Hampshire primary poll

by Julia Shapero - 07/18/23 1:37 PM ET

Greg Nash
Former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R). Credit: Greg Nash

Former President Trump maintained a sizable lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in a New Hampshire primary poll released Tuesday, despite dropping several points in the key early voting state.

The Granite State Poll found that 37 percent of likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire said they would support Trump, while 23 percent said they planned to back DeSantis.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott came in third place, with 8 percent support, followed by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum at 6 percent each, and conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 5 percent each.

About 1 percent of likely New Hampshire primary voters each said they would support former Vice President Mike Pence and former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, the poll found.

Trump has seen a slight dip in support in the Granite State since the last iteration of the survey in April, when he was polling at 42 percent. However, DeSantis, his closest competitor, has only seen a 1-point bump in the same period.

The former president’s supporters in Tuesday’s poll were also much more likely to say they had “definitely decided” to support him in the primary compared to those backing the other candidates.

While 76 percent of Trump supporters said they were “definitely decided” on the former president, just 14 percent of DeSantis supporters said the same of the Florida governor, according to the poll.

More than a third — 35 percent — of New Hampshire Republicans said they would not vote for Christie under any circumstances. Another 20 percent said they would never support Pence, while 18 percent said the same of Trump.

The Granite State Poll was conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center from July 13 to July 17 with 2,028 New Hampshire adults and had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points. The survey included 898 likely Republican primary voters with a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.