Trump tops Haley by 19 points in New Hampshire: Poll

With less than a day to go before New Hampshire holds its first-in-the-nation primary, a new poll showed former President Trump is leading former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley by 19 points in the Granite State.

The Boston Globe/NBC-10/Suffolk University poll, released Monday morning, surveyed 500 likely GOP primary voters in New Hampshire on Saturday and Sunday.

It found Haley received the backing of 38.2 percent of the respondents, while Trump received 57.4 percent. Another 1.6 percent said someone else, and 2.2 percent of respondents were undecided.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race Sunday and endorsed Trump following a disappointing show of support in last week’s Iowa caucuses. David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, told The Boston Globe that 11 voters from Saturday’s sample who selected DeSantis as their first-choice candidate were redistributed to either Trump or Haley, depending on whom they put for their second-choice preference.

Those contacted by phone Sunday were asked to only choose between Trump and Haley, the Globe reported.

The poll’s findings echo others seen in the Granite State in recent weeks and on a national level, where Trump has maintained a notable lead in the primary field. Haley, however, has narrowed his New Hampshire lead in recent weeks.

DeSantis’s departure from the race on Sunday did not change Haley and Trump’s numbers by a large margin, pollsters found. The Boston Globe/NBC-10/Suffolk University poll from Friday and Saturday, before DeSantis suspended his presidential campaign, found Haley and Trump’s support was just slightly lower than in Monday morning’s poll, with Haley garnering 36 percent and Trump 54.6 percent. DeSantis shored up about 6 percent of support in that poll.

In The Hill and Decision Desk HQ’s polling average of the New Hampshire primaries updated on Monday, which included DeSantis, Trump holds an 11.7-point lead over Haley: 47.6 percent to 35.9 percent. DeSantis held nearly 6 percent support, the polling index found.

The Granite State will hold its primary Tuesday, just more than a week after Trump won the Iowa caucuses by nearly 30 points.

The Boston Globe/NBC-10/Suffolk University poll was conducted Saturday and Sunday among 500 likely New Hampshire primary voters. It has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.