A New Hampshire poll published Thursday shows Nikki Haley cementing her position as the candidate best placed to beat Donald Trump when Republicans in the state pick their favorite later this month.
She is only four points behind Trump, according to pollsters at American Research Group.
The gap is the same as it was in December, but those two candidates have pulled further away from the pack, picking up voters who said they were undecided last time around.
The full results have Trump in front on 37 percent with Haley on 33. Former New Jersey Gov. Christie has dropped back to 10 percent (from 13), with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in fourth on five percent (from six), and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy on four percent (from five).
Haley has seen her strong debate performances and key endorsements convert into poll momentum in recent weeks as candidates approach the business end of the race.
Nikki Haley is moving up in the polls. Now she is attracting fire from the campaigns of Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis as we reach the business end of the nomination contest
The campaigns of Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis have upped their attacks in recent weeks
EXCLUSIVEREAD MORE: Nikki Haley beats Joe Biden by five points in Daily Mail 2024 national poll
Iowa is the first state to pick its preferred candidate on January 15. Trump is way ahead in the polls there, but a strong showing by DeSantis or Haley could see them crowned the best challenger.
New Hampshire holds its primary on January 23, and Haley has made clear that she is targeting a win.
Her momentum has turned her into target number one for both Trump and DeSantis, who have kept up a steady stream of attacks.
The Trump campaign on Wednesday launched its first TV attack on Haley in New Hampshire.
‘Confirmed warnings of terrorists sneaking in through our southern border,’ the narrator says. ‘Yet Haley joined Biden in opposing Trump’s visitor ban from terrorist nations. Haley’s weakness puts us in grave danger. Trump’s strength protects us.’
DeSantis also went on the attack after Haley appeared to write off Iowa’s Republican voters when she told voters in New Hampshire they had a chance to correct the result in Iowa, where Trump appears on course for a big win.
‘We have an opportunity to get this right,’ she told a large crowd in Milford. ‘And I know we’ll get it right, and I trust you. I trust every single one of you.
‘You know how to do this. You know Iowa starts it. You know that you correct it.’
South Carolina, her home state, ‘brings it home,’ she added to cheers, when it holds the first primary in the south on February 24.
DeSantis said it suggested Haley knew she was in for a drubbing in Iowa.
JL Partners polled 984 likely voters across the nation from December 15 to 20. The results carry a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points but show that former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley does best out of Republican contenders against Joe Biden
‘I think it was incredibly disrespectful to Iowans to say somehow their votes need to be quote corrected,’ he said during an interview with am Omaha radio station.
‘I think she’s trying to provide an excuse for her not doing well.’
Other Iowans weighed in.
‘I trust Iowans to make their own decisions,’ said Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has endorsed DeSantis. ‘No “corrections” needed!’
Haley’s analysis may not be wrong, however.
A rolling average of Iowa polls maintained by statistics website FiveThirtyEight puts DeSantis on 18.4 percent and Haley on 15.7 percent. Trump is way out ahead with 50 percent of the vote.
Caucuses are notoriously difficult to predict, but the numbers suggest that Haley’s best bet may be in New Hampshire where she is 19 points behind Trump, and way ahead of DeSantis.
Several strong debate performances and key endorsements have given her momentum as the race gets to its business end.
Her campaign hit back at criticism she was soft on the border.
‘All the lame nicknames in the world don’t change the fact that Donald Trump is clearly terrified of Nikki Haley’s momentum,’ said communications director Nachama Soloveichik.
‘Nikki passed one of the toughest anti-illegal immigration bills in the country back when Trump was still a Democrat. Trump should spend more time explaining why he never fulfilled his signature promise to build a wall instead of desperately trying to mislead voters with easily debunked ads.’