When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ supporters in the latest CNN New Hampshire poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire are reallocated to their second choice candidate, former President Donald Trump’s double-digit lead over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley among likely Republican primary voters widens slightly.
Trump’s support ticks up from 50% to 54%, while Haley shifts from 39% to 41%. Another 3% of likely GOP primary voters say they’d vote for someone else.
The poll asked voters who they would support if their top choice was no longer in the race. DeSantis suspended his campaign Sunday, a few hours after the poll’s findings were first released.
The Florida governor was the first choice of 6% of likely New Hampshire GOP primary voters, and his supporters generally tilted toward Trump over Haley in their second choices. The survey was fielded from January 16 through January 19.
Shifting DeSantis backers to their second choices doesn’t materially change the dynamics of the race, and if anything, pushes Trump and Haley’s opposing coalitions a bit further apart.
Among registered Republicans, for example, Trump’s support ticks to 72% from 67%, while Haley’s backing among those who are registered as undeclared stands at 60% instead of 58%. And Trump’s support among the state’s conservative likely GOP primary voters climbs to 77% from 71%, while Haley holds 72% among moderate likely Republican primary voters, similar to her level of support initially.
The CNN poll conducted by UNH was conducted online among 2,348 New Hampshire adults drawn from a probability-based panel. The 1,210 likely Republican primary voters were identified through survey questions about their intention to vote. Results for that group have an error margin of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
