DeSantis within striking distance, pollster says
A New Hampshire poll shows that former President Donald Trump is holding a dominant lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination among Granite State voters.
The Republican primary in New Hampshire is shaping up as a two-person race between Trump, with 42% support, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with 29% support.
The St. Anselm College Survey Center poll of 1,320 New Hampshire voters was conducted from March 28-30 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.7%. It was mostly conducted before Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury on March 30.
Neil Levesque, director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, said DeSantis has work to do if he runs, but he’s currently the only one within striking distance of Trump.
“He hasn’t even come to the state of New Hampshire yet, so we’ll wait to see if that sort of expectation holds,” Levesque said.
Far behind the top two are a host of other Republicans, some of them already in the race. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is at 14%, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is at 4%, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy is at 3%.
Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney is at 2%, and former Vice President Mike Pence is at 1%.
Also at 1% in the poll are former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem didn’t get above the 1% mark, and 2% wanted someone who wasn’t on the list.
“Voters in the Republican primary have not abandoned Donald Trump,” Levesque said.
In the meantime, President Joe Biden’s job approval rating in New Hampshire continues to be underwater, with only 45% approving of his handling of the presidency and 54% disapproving.
The poll indicates that in 2024, there could be room for a third party. The shows that 79% of New Hampshire voters said they would give some consideration to an independent or third-party candidate for president in 2024, with only 21% saying they would not consider such a candidate.
“So, I think as we go toward 2024, the prospects of a potential third party coming out and being an alternative to Joe Biden and Donald Trump could be very real,” Levesque said.
Source: W Mur
