The poll followed Trump’s 30-point win in Iowa’s caucuses last week.
A new CNN poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire has shown that former President Donald Trump has extended his lead in the race to win the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary.
The poll followed Trump’s 30-point win in Iowa’s caucuses last week.
Trump holds 50% support among likely Republican primary voters in the Granite State, while his closest competitor, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, stands at 39%.
Both have gained supporters since the last CNN/UNH poll in early January – when Trump held 39% to Haley’s 32% – as the field of major contenders has shrunk from six candidates to three.
Both Trump and Haley now hold their highest level of support in UNH polling on the race since 2021. But Haley’s sharp gains since late last summer have not been enough to catch Trump, as the gap between them has once again widened to double digits.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who led the race in UNH’s polling in early 2023 but has recently pulled back his efforts in the state, stands at just 6% in the poll, below the 10% minimum support he would need to win delegates there per the Republican Party’s rules.
For Trump’s opponents, New Hampshire has long appeared to be the place in the early primary calendar that offered the best shot at knocking him off track in his bid for a third straight GOP presidential nomination.
It was the only early state where polls consistently found Trump without majority support, and where voters often showed the most openness to his rivals. But this latest survey suggests that Trump’s popularity within the GOP base and the commitment of his supporters outweigh the appeal of his challengers.
New Hampshire’s traditional independent streak and more moderate pool of likely primary voters, when compared with other states whose nominating contests land ahead of Super Tuesday, are part of why some Trump rivals fixated on the state as the place to stand out. And Haley has won over those groups.
She holds 58% support among those who are registered as undeclared (New Hampshire’s term for independent voters) and plan to vote in the GOP primary, and 71% support among those who consider themselves ideologically moderate.
She also stands ahead of Trump among voters who hold college degrees (50% Haley to 38% Trump). But each of these groups on its own makes up a minority of likely GOP primary voters in New Hampshire: 47% are registered undeclared, 33% are at least college graduates and just about 3 in 10 describe themselves as moderate.
Trump has largely consolidated his support among the larger flip sides of each of those groups. He has the backing of 67% of registered Republicans, 71% of conservatives and 55% of those who do not have a college degree. And among Trump’s supporters, 88% say they have definitely decided to support him compared with 74% of Haley supporters who are similarly locked in. That translates to 45% of the electorate being firmly decided Trump supporters, compared with just 30% who are equally decided Haley backers.
With just a few days to go before Tuesday’s primary, about 1 in 5 likely Republican primary voters overall say they have not yet locked in their choice. That group broadly backs Haley as of now: 51% support her, 28% support Trump and 14% say they support DeSantis.
Broadly speaking, New Hampshire’s likely Republican primary voters expect Trump to win on Tuesday (70% say they think he will carry the day, though just 36% of Haley backers feel that way), and more say they would be satisfied were he to become the party’s presidential nominee than would feel that way about Haley or DeSantis (61% say they would be either enthusiastic or satisfied should Trump win the nomination, compared with 54% each saying the same about Haley or DeSantis).
And Trump continues to be viewed more favorably than either Haley or DeSantis within the primary electorate: 56% have a positive view of Trump, compared with 36% who feel that way about Haley and 28% about DeSantis.