Haley now trailing Trump by 14 points in New Hampshire poll

by Miranda Nazzaro - 12/21/23 8:31 AM ET

GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley appears to be gaining ground on former President Trump’s steady lead in New Hampshire, doubling her support in the early voting state since September, according to a new poll.

The survey, published Thursday by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center (SACSC), found Haley garnered 30 percent of the likely Republican primary vote, just 14 points behind Trump’s 44 percent support.

While the former South Carolina governor has gained momentum in the early primary state since September, her closest rival — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — dropped 6 points from 11 percent to 5 percent.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie saw a slight gain in support, garnering 12 percent support in December, a 2 point increase from September, pollsters found. Meanwhile, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson remain in the single digits with 6 and 1 percent, respectively.

As for the general election, President Biden led Trump by 10 points — 49 percent to 39 percent — in a hypothetical rematch between the two party front-runners. Independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., however, picked up 8 percent support in the new survey.

About 4 percent in the Granite State poll said they were not sure on their choice.

The poll’s findings come just over a month away from New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary. Gov. Chris Sununu (R) formally endorsed Haley earlier this month.

She has seen a surge across several polls in recent weeks, though Trump has maintained a strong lead, even in the wake of four criminal cases, an ongoing civil fraud case and now a ruling in Colorado that would disqualify him from the state’s primary ballot.

Earlier this month, Trump dismissed Haley’s rise in the polls, writing on social media, “Where’s the Nikki Surge?”

“I hear about it from the Fake News Media, but don’t see it in the Polls, or on the Ground,” he said.

The SACSC poll was conducted Dec. 18-19 among 1,711 New Hampshire likely voters. It has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.