Haley leads Biden in New Hampshire poll; president tops Trump, DeSantis

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley holds a 3-point lead over President Biden in a hypothetical general election match-up in New Hampshire, while Biden leads former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in separate match-ups, according to poll results released Friday. 

The Marist New Hampshire poll found Haley leading Biden 47 percent to 44 percent respectively in a hypothetical two-way race. That difference falls within the survey’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points, effectively tying the two. 

But when the polls places Biden in head-to-head match-ups with Trump and DeSantis in the Granite State, the president fares better. Biden leads DeSantis 51 percent to 42 percent and leads Trump 52 percent to 45 percent. 

When the polls look at a hypothetical three-way race between Biden, Trump and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., it shows Biden narrowly beating Trump, 44 percent to 41 percent, and Kennedy receiving 12 percent. Because that difference also falls within the margin of error, Biden and Trump are effectively tied. 

New Hampshire is slated to hold its first-in-the-nation primary Tuesday, and an average of New Hampshire surveys compiled by Decision Desk HQ and The Hill show Trump in the lead at roughly 46 percent, Haley at 35 percent and DeSantis at 6 percent. 

While Haley has sought to make her pitch to voters on electability, pointing to polls showing her beating Biden in a general election scenario, the former president’s landslide win in Iowa underscores the tough hill Haley and others must first climb in seeking to topple Trump in the GOP primary. 

“The popularity of the GOP candidates for Tuesday’s primary tells a very different story than how they would match up against Biden in November,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, said in a press release. “Although Haley has the highest negative rating among GOP and Republican leaning independents, right now, she is the strongest Republican against Biden for carrying New Hampshire in the fall.” 

The Marist New Hampshire poll was conducted Jan. 15-17, with 1,157 New Hampshire registered voters surveyed.