by Mary Lou Masters
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is cutting into former President Donald Trump’s lead in the key early primary state of New Hampshire, polling behind him by only single digits for the first time this cycle, according to a Tuesday survey.
Trump is ahead of Haley 39% to 32% among likely Republican primary voters in the first-in-the-nation primary state, with all other GOP hopefuls garnering 12% support or less, according to a CNN/University of New Hampshire poll. The figures represent a 12-point increase in support for Haley since the same poll was conducted in November.
“This poll is more proof of what we already knew: this is a two-person race,” AnnMarie Graham-Barnes, spokesperson for the Haley campaign, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “Nikki Haley is surging, Donald Trump is dropping, and the DeSantis campaign obituary is being written.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie followed Haley with 12% support, ahead of conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy at 8%, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 5% and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson at 0%, according to the survey. Only 5% of the likely GOP primary voters were undecided of their choice ahead of the Jan. 23 contest.
Haley has seen a rise in the key early primary state’s polls as she garnered the coveted endorsement of Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu in mid-December.
Haley has steadily closed the gap between her and Trump in New Hampshire, according to the RealClearPolitics average, which now shows the former president ahead by only 13.7 points. The figure represents the smallest margin any GOP presidential candidate has had against Trump this cycle in New Hampshire.
However, another poll conducted during a similar same time period as the CNN/University of New Hampshire and released the same day by the Boston Globe/Suffolk University/USA Today, found Haley 20 points behind Trump in the key early primary state.
Haley is also polling in second place in her home state of South Carolina, another key early primary state, and is tied with DeSantis behind Trump in Iowa ahead of its Jan. 15 caucus, according to the RCP average.
The CNN poll also surveyed likely Democratic primary voters, finding that President Joe Biden has 69% support compared to Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips’ 7% and self-help author Marianne Williamson’s 6%. Biden will not participate in the primary due to the Democratic National Committee’s new calendar, however, a significant write-in campaign is well underway in the state.
The poll surveyed 919 likely Republican primary voters and 643 likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire between Jan. 4 and Jan. 8 with margins of error of plus or minus 3.2% and 3.9%, respectively.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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Mary Lou Masters is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Nikki Haley” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
