Trump May Have New Challenger in Key Primary State: Poll

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has received good news in the Granite State, according to new polling conducted after the most recent GOP debate in California.

A new Suffolk University/USA TODAY/The Boston Globe poll released Wednesday showed Haley receiving 19 percent of support in the early GOP primary state of New Hampshire, vaulting her past Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (10 percent) but still trailing front runner Donald Trump—who garnered 49 percent of support among 500 likely statewide voters.

Aside from those three, none of the other candidates polled in double digits. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie received 6 percent, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott both polled at 4 percent, and former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum received 1 percent each. Only 4 percent of New Hampshire voters remain undecided.

Haley, the former U.S. ambassador and South Carolina governor, has made strides and overtaken many of her opponents in recent months due in part to the strength of her debate showings—which is mentioned in the new poll as reasoning among some respondents for how they view Haley now compared to when she announced her candidacy on February 14.

Voters polled said they were reluctant to consider switching favored candidates. Nearly 60 percent stated their minds are made up, and more than 85 percent said neither the results of the Iowa caucuses nor an endorsement of one of the candidates by New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu was likely to impact their vote.

And of the Trump supporters in that state, 84 percent of them said they were sticking with the former president while 15 percent are keeping their minds open to other candidates.

"We went into the field the night after the debate. I think the debate was fresh in a lot of people's minds. My takeaway is that Haley is firmly in second place now," David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, told Newsweek via phone.

He said people can see the poll and quibble as to how far ahead she is of DeSantis, but he doesn't see the Florida governor as being the main challenger to Trump as he was when he formally entered the race in May.

"What I think is ironic is normally when a candidate surges, it's usually at the expense of a front runner," Paleologos said. "The front runner will falter and someone surges and it changes the dynamic. Trump is strong and not faltering at all."

DeSantis campaign alters primary strategy

A broader FiveThirtyEight/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted immediately after the second Republican debate found that most Republican primary viewers felt DeSantis came out on top, followed by Ramaswamy and Haley. About two in three GOP primary voters did not watch any of the debate.

"We have the strongest early state infrastructure of any campaign, and we just posted an impressive $15 million fundraising quarter that shows we are in this race to win," Bryan Griffin, DeSantis campaign spokesperson, told Newsweek via email on Wednesday.

"Nobody will outwork Ron DeSantis in New Hampshire, and we look forward to being back in the Granite State for multiple visits this month. We are confident that, as people now start to pay attention to this race, Ron DeSantis will be the candidate voters choose to lead the American revival."

The significant fundraising haul provides the campaign with resources in another early primary contest in Iowa and beyond, added DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier.

Bloomberg reported that of the $15 million the DeSantis campaign raised last quarter, only $5 million can be spent on the campaign, putting the governor and his staff in somewhat of a financial bind.

Sources said the campaign reportedly has $13.5 million in cash on hand but $8.5 million of that can't be used due to campaign contribution limits restricting some money for use only in the general election.

Griffin did not comment on that report. However, he confirmed reports that the campaign has relocated a plethora of staff from Tallahassee to Des Moines, Iowa, in an effort to better challenge Trump in the state's caucuses.

Haley could be best general election hope

Haley, who was an ambassador appointed by Trump, has not been afraid to criticize the former president. She has targeted his "moral weakness" as it pertains to dealing with China, the No. 1 geopolitical threat to the U.S.

"Trump congratulated the Communist Party on its 70th anniversary of conquering China," Haley said in June. "That sent a wrong message to the world. Chinese communism must be condemned, never congratulated. China was militarily stronger when President Trump left office than when he entered. That's bad."

Haley and Trump both share something, that being that both have been criticized by the large anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America.

Trump has not gone as far as candidates like DeSantis and Pence regarding abortion timelines like heartbeat bills, and both Trump and Haley have expressed that states and not the federal government should legislate on the issue in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade.

Haley specifically has noted how 60 U.S. senators would never vote to approve sweeping federal provisions on specific limits.

A CNN poll released in September found that Haley had the best numbers of any Republican candidate against President Joe Biden in a head-to-head matchup.

Newsweek reached out to Haley's campaign via email.