A new poll from New Hampshire shows that while Donald Trump is holding onto his commanding lead, Nikki Haley is substantially closing the gap with the January 23 early primary state election swiftly approaching.
Trump is still the far frontrunner in the Republican primary with 42 percent support, according to the new CNN poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire. His standing is up 3 percent from September when he earned 39 percent by primary voters in the Granite State.
Meanwhile, Haley is 22 percent behind Trump with a shocking 20 percent support with just two months until the New Hampshire primaries.
The former UN Ambassador saw a massive jump from September when she was only polling at 12 percent in the same CNN polling.
![A poll from New Hampshire this month shows Donald Trump remaining in the lead – but Nikki Haley is closing the gap with 20% in the early primary election state](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/16/20/77894951-12758641-image-a-1_1700167135629.jpg)
A poll from New Hampshire this month shows Donald Trump remaining in the lead – but Nikki Haley is closing the gap with 20% in the early primary election state
![Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is bumped to fourth place in the first-in-the-national primary election state, which will only follow the Iowa caucuses in January](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/16/20/77899667-12758641-image-a-13_1700168117054.jpg)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is bumped to fourth place in the first-in-the-national primary election state, which will only follow the Iowa caucuses in January
Her strong debate performances coupled with other candidates suspending their campaign has helped Haley start to close the gap with Trump.
Iowa is holding the first primary contest with their caucuses on January 15 – but New Hampshire is not far behind and will hold the first traditional primary elections on January 23.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had an early lead among the field behind Trump, but is now placing fourth in New Hampshire with 9 percent support, after coming in with 23 percent support in the early primary state in July and dropping to 10 percent by September.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – despite nationally falling behind, has been polling ahead of DeSantis in New Hampshire with 11 percent in September rising to 14 percent in November.
Christie is banking a lot on his performance in New Hampshire. He boasted on Fox News Wednesday that he has not spent ‘on hour in Iowa’ during this primary campaign.
He has also dismissed national polls, claiming they don’t matter because the U.S. doesn’t have a national primary, so he is focusing on his performance ‘state-by-state.’
Christie sarcastically quipped at Fox News host Sandra Smith that he should ‘just drop out’ of the race because of RealClearPolitics national polling putting him at 2.4 percent.
Repeatedly, Christie pointed to surveys in New Hampshire, which is the early primary state where the 2024 hopeful is putting all of his weight for the January 23 elections.
![Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he isn't worried about national polls because the primary election is state-by-state as he dismissed his dismal showing in national surveys](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/16/20/77848791-12758641-Former_New_Jersey_Gov_Chris_Christie_said_he_isn_t_worried_about-a-7_1700167165089.jpg)
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he isn’t worried about national polls because the primary election is state-by-state as he dismissed his dismal showing in national surveys
‘I don’t care where I am in national polling,’ Christie shot-back at Smith when she asked how he thinks he is really performing nationally versus the polling.
‘It doesn’t matter, we don’t have a national primary, Sandra,’ he continued, clearly frustrated by the narrative. ‘If we had a national primary I would be in desperate, horrible straits – but we don’t. We have primaries state by state.’
From the September poll to the one taken and released this month, former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott both suspended their presidential primary campaigns – clearing the way for the 8 percent who polled for them two months ago to redistribute among the remaining candidates.
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has lost some ground in New Hampshire, where he was polling at 13 percent in September.
The millionaire now stands at 8 percent with just two months to make up the lost support.