Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has surpassed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) for the first time in the 2024 campaign, according to FiveThirtyEight's national polling average (538 votes).
“The polling website's senior editor and senior election analyst, Nathaniel Rakic, said: announced Haley moved to second place on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday. He pointed to caveats about poll confidence intervals and the multiple ways to calculate poll averages.
Still, the former United Nations ambassador is ahead with an average score of 538 points.
The 2024 election marks the first time that Haley has ranked second in pollsters' averages, underscoring Haley's rise in polls over the past few months.
Haley, a former South Carolina governor, has been gaining momentum since August on the back of strong performances in multiple primary debates.
DeSantis remained in second place among the Republican candidates for most of the campaign, and at one point held a narrow lead over former President Trump. But in a matter of months, he dropped from more than 30% of the nation's total to low double digits.
Haley has also held second place in The Hill/Decision Desk's national political average since mid-December.She and DeSantis are statistically tied in RealClearPolitics polling averages.
Trump remains the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination, holding a 50-point lead with the national average score of 538. Haley also has a large lead in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, especially in the latter.
Haley and DeSantis are scheduled to face off in a CNN-sponsored debate in Iowa next week ahead of the Hawkeye State caucuses on January 15. Trump will once again be absent from the debate and will instead participate in a town hall hosted by Fox News.
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