Poll: Nikki Haley consolidates non-Trump vote in New Hampshire

With a little more than a month to go before the first primary of the 2024 election cycle, polling shows Granite State voters are making up their minds about which Republican they’ll support for the party nomination.

A CBS poll of registered voters released Sunday shows that former President Donald Trump continues to dominate the conservative field in both Iowa, where the first caucusing is scheduled to occur on January 15, and New Hampshire, where the first party delegates will be won a week later, on the 23rd.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s campaign was probably very happy to note her support among Granite Staters has swelled to 29%, just 15 points behind her former boss, and that New Hampshire conservatives view her more favorably than the five remaining viable Republican candidates on the primary ballot.

“Donald Trump still leads in New Hampshire, but Nikki Haley has consolidated much of the non-Trump vote and has emerged as the top alternative to him there. Among the top candidates, Haley gets the best marks on being seen as ‘likable’ and ‘reasonable,’ and she runs nearly even with Trump on being ‘prepared’ — notable, considering he held the presidency,” pollsters wrote.

In Iowa, where almost half of those polled identified themselves as part of the “MAGA” movement, Trump leads Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, combined.

“Trump has consolidated his already commanding lead in Iowa, where likely caucus-goers overwhelmingly see him as a ‘strong leader,’ where his backers say he ‘represents Iowa values,’” pollsters said.

Haley’s sudden surge in New Hampshire polling comes following last Wednesday’s endorsement of her White House run by the state’s Republican governor, Chris Sununu. The CBS survey was conducted from Dec. 8 through Dec. 15, and may not capture the full impact of his endorsement.

“In six weeks, Granite Staters will head to the polls in record numbers and uphold our 100-year responsibility of hosting the first-in-the-nation primary. We have an obligation to get it right — and Nikki Haley is the best person for the job,” Sununu said in a Sunday statement shared by Haley’s campaign.

The former South Carolina governor’s gains essentially vanish when you zoom out to a national level.

A FOX News poll also released on Sunday shows that the 45th president’s attempt to be the 47th president is supported by 69% of Republican voters, with only 2% of those polled still undecided. DeSantis nets 12%, Haley just 9%. Ramaswamy, Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson come in under 5%.

The same poll shows Trump beating President Joe Biden in the déjà vu inducing sequel to 2020’s contest by about 4 points, even if the race includes third party spoiler candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or Jill Stein.

Trump, clearly aware of the promising polling, called for the other candidates to end their campaigns and get on board with his effort to remove Biden from the White House.

“Where is the Nikki ‘SURGE,’ and the DeSanctimonious ‘BOUNCE.’ (I am beating Ron in Florida, 83% to 12%) I went up 7 Points, they both went down. Christie is dogmeat, Hutchinson is holding solid at 1%. Everyone should drop out, unify, and go after the WORST & MOST CORRUPT PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, CROOKED JOE BIDEN,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform, capitalization his.