A New Hampshire GOP primary poll has shown a surge for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who now trails former President Donald Trump by just 15 points in the latest CBS News poll released Sunday.
Haley is the most "likable" (55%) and most "reasonable" (51%) among the GOP candidates, but it is still Trump who draws the majority (51%) of those saying he can "definitely" beat Biden. Haley is second with 31%.
The full GOP New Hampshire primary poll results:
- Trump 44%
- Haley 29%
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis 11%
- Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie 10%
- Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy 5%
- Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson 1%
"We estimate that Trump's current support would translate to winning a majority of delegates in Iowa (21-26 of them), and 10-16 delegates in New Hampshire," CBS News wrote in the analysis of the poll. "Haley's support in New Hampshire would get her 5-8 delegates, with DeSantis and Christie's support hovering around the state's 10% threshold to qualify for any delegates at all."
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a never-Trumper, recently endorsed Haley over DeSantis in the state, drawing the ire of Trump in a Durham, New Hampshire, rally Saturday.
"He's like a spoiled brat," Trump told rally in a speech that aired live and in its entirety on Newsmax.
Trump mentioned Sununu — albeit not by name — because the "RINO" (Republican in name only) operative refused to help his campaign in past elections.
"Nobody's ever fought for your state like I did," Trump said, noting he helped keep the state as the first in the nation primary — unlike President Joe Biden and Democrats who gave that to South Carolina. "I didn't like your governor very much, but I got him everything he needed."
YouGov conducted the CBS News poll Dec. 8-15, 2023 among 855 registered voters in New Hampshire. The margin of error is plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.