Haley moves into second place behind Trump in New Hampshire: poll

by Julia Mueller - 09/25/23 6:06 PM ET

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has surged into second place behind former President Trump in New Hampshire, according to a new poll, moving ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP field.

Trump is the clear frontrunner of the Republican race, with 45 percent of likely Republican presidential primary voters, but Haley is now his closest challenger, with 15 percent — according to the survey from the Saint Anselm College Survey Center at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP).

Haley is now slotted in second, ahead of DeSantis’s 11 percent. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie scored 10 percent, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy got 6 percent.

Seven other GOP White House hopefuls tested got just 3 percent or less, and 6 percent were unsure.

DeSantis has long been Trump’s closest challenger in most polls, but his support has been slipping in recent weeks. The NHIOP poll notes DeSantis’s support has fallen 18 points since March.

Haley, on the other hand, saw a boost after the first GOP debate in Milwaukee last month. Her campaign has touted its momentum after the event, and the super PAC backing her bid has boasted of Haley’s rise as DeSantis declines.

In 2024 general election hypotheticals, likely Republican primary voters in the Granite State said they’d vote 73-13 for DeSantis over President Biden, with 12 percent backing someone else. If the contest was with Haley, Biden gets just 8 percent and Haley gets 74 percent.

The New Hampshire results come after a top pollster warned Haley has “surged” in Iowa, and after a CNN poll found her besting Biden in a 2024 hypothetical head-to-head.

Haley and other candidates are headed toward the second GOP debate in Simi Valley, Calif., later this week — with the exception of Trump, who has said he’ll skip the event and give remarks in Michigan.

Conducted Sept. 19-20, the poll surveyed 931 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary likely voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.