(DCWatchdog.com) – In a new shocker to Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign and all the so-called political “experts,” Nikki Haley has caught up to DeSantis among potential Republican primary voters in the early-voting state of New Hampshire.
Haley, a former South Carolina governor and US ambassador to the UN, is now tied with Florida’s governor at 10% support among New Hampshire’s Republicans, according to a poll by NMB Research.
The survey revealed by Politico and cited by National Review also shows that former President Donald Trump’s support in the Granite State stands at 47%; that is, he enjoys a 37-point lead over DeSantis and Haley.
The newly reported poll is the first to reveal Haley’s gaining ground in New Hampshire after the first Republican primary debate, which Trump didn’t attend, occurred at the end of August.
Despite the new survey, the RealClearPolitics polling average for New Hampshire still shows DeSantis at 13% support and Haley at 3.8%.
“Still, the latest numbers represent a significant development given that the Florida governor was the clear second choice in the GOP primary contest before he started losing traction over the summer,” National Review comments.
It elaborates that DeSantis rebooted his presidential campaign in July-August by laying off a third of his staffers.
Since then, the Florida governor’s nationwide support has decreased from 18% to 14%, a four-point decline, according to the GOP primary polling average of RealClearPolitics.
The NMB Research survey found that DeSantis is still ahead of Haley in New Hampshire regarding second-choice ballots, as 20% of Republican voters in the state would choose him after Trump, while Haley is the second choice for 15%.
“Haley received a clear bump after her performance in the first primary debate and may be able to overtake DeSantis if she gets a similar boost from the next presidential debate on September 27,” the report hypothesizes.
The NMB Research poll was conducted from August 25-31 among 800 likely GOP primary voters in New Hampshire and has an error margin of 3.46 percentage points.
A Wall Street Journal poll among 600 registered Republican primary voters released last weekend showed Trump at 59%, DeSantis at 13%, Haley at 8%, with the other candidates at 5% or less.
