Just two days before New Hampshire voters head to the polls, Nikki Haley is falling further behind Donald Trump compared to her standing earlier this month.
Among Republican voters in the first-in-the-nation state, 55 percent say they support former President Trump, which is 19 percentage points more than those who say they support former United Nations Ambassador Haley (36 percent).
Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has fallen to a far-distant third with only 6 percent support, according to the Suffolk poll commissioned by NBC10 Boston and the Boston Globe.
The results follow Haley’s disappointing third place finish in the Iowa caucuses on January 15 where she earned 19.1 percent. The caucus yielded Trump a massive 51 percent victory and DeSantis a second place finish with 21.2 percent.
A New Hampshire Republican primary poll shows Nikki Haley 19% behind Donald Trump among GOP voters in the state – but 1% ahead of the former president among independent voters
Haley is hoping to see a better outcome in the more moderate state of New Hampshire, where voters express they are less wooed by Trump’s MAGA agenda and DeSantis’ ‘anti-woke’ ideology.
A few previous polls had Haley within one-digit of Trump – and an American Research Group survey taken January 12-15 showed them in a dead tie with 40 percent each. One January 4-8 poll from University of New Hampshire Survey Center/CNN showed Haley just 7 percent behind Trump.
The latest, however, shows Haley falling behind by nearly 20 points after her third-place finish in Iowa.
Independent voters might be Haley’s saving grace in the primary election on Tuesday as they show to be the wildcard, the Suffolk/NBC/Boston Globe poll reveals. Independent voters are allowed to vote in the primary and cast their ballot for whoever they choose.
Many who lean left claim they will write-in President Joe Biden’s name on Tuesday’s ballot.
Donald Trump took a commanding victory in the Iowa caucuses with 51% of the vote, but is less popular in the more left-leaning state of New Hampshire
Haley, after coming in third in Iowa, is looking to pick-up a win in New Hampshire
Among Republican voters, Haley is 19 percent behind, but when independent voters were polled, she was actually ahead of Trump by 1 point.
Forty-five percent of the 217 independent voters surveyed say they will cast their ballot for Haley while 44 percent say they will go for Trump.
Only 5 percent say they would vote for DeSantis.
The polling in Iowa proved to be pretty accurate, with Trump winning by dozens of points against Haley and DeSantis, as well as biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, both of whom have since dropped out of the race.
Ramaswamy has since backed Trump, as has Sen. Tim Scott, who dropped out of the 2024 Republican primary in mid-November.