A poll of Iowa caucus attendees released just days before the first presidential election showed Republican White House candidate Nikki Haley leading Republican rival Ron DeSantis by seven points.
In a Suffolk University Political Research Center poll released Thursday, Haley received support from 20% of likely caucus participants, compared to 13% for DeSantis.
Former President Trump maintained a commanding lead in the poll, with 54% of likely caucus attendees supporting him.
No other candidates broke double digits.
Haley and DeSantis are in a tight race heading into Iowa, where polls show them competing for second place.
Haley, a former South Carolina governor who served as U.N. ambassador under the Trump administration, faced off against DeSantis in a one-on-one debate Wednesday night in Des Moines, the final debate before Monday's caucuses. did.
During the debate, DeSantis defended her record as Florida governor while attacking Haley on a myriad of issues in an attempt to slow her momentum in the primary. The two sparred over issues such as abortion, foreign policy, and spending.
“The best way to learn about candidates is to see how they run their campaigns,” Haley said at one point, attacking DeSantis. “He burned through $150 million. … I don't even know how you do something like that.”
“He has nothing to show for it. He has spent more money on private planes than commercials trying to get Iowans to vote for him. If he can't manage a campaign, how is he going to manage the country?” ” she added.
Trump skipped the CNN debate and attended his own town hall event hosted by Fox News elsewhere in Des Moines.
Hours before the debate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced he was withdrawing from the Republican race, a move expected to give Haley a boost, especially in New Hampshire. The Granite State's primary election will be held on January 23rd, and polls show it is a close race in the state, with Trump generally in the lead.
Just before Christie appeared on stage in New Hampshire to announce to her supporters that she was canceling her campaign, Haley said on a hot mic that she would be “smoked” by running against Trump. was heard.
“So she's spent like $68 million so far on TV alone — $68 million so far — $59 million on DeSantis, and we've spent $12. [million]. I mean, who's punching above their weight and who's getting a return on their investment, right?'' Christie can be heard saying on the audio. “And she's going to smoke. And you and I both know that. She's not going to do that.”
Before dropping out, Mr. Christie had 2% support in Iowa, compared with 6% for entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, according to a poll by the Suffolk University Center for Political Research.
The survey was conducted between January 6 and 10 among 500 people believed to be members of the Republican caucus, and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
