On Wednesday, the Boston-based Emerson College released its poll of the GOP’s upcoming primary in New Hampshire… and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finds himself in a tougher spot than usual.
DeSantis is polling at 7 percent in the Granite State, the site of the GOP’s first primary.
Between Nov. 10 and 13, the pollsters surveyed 917 registered voters. They asked about a hypothetical primary held today, and they used landlines, online panels, and emails.
Former President Donald Trump continued his streak of finishing first. This time, he commanded 49 percent of respondents.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ranked second, as the only other candidate with double-digit support. She was pulling 18 percent of respondents, compared to only 4 percent in August’s poll.
Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey, finished third with 9 percent.
Then comes DeSantis, only two points ahead of entrepreneur-turned-author Vivek Ramaswamy. Tim Scott pulled 2 percent of the vote, but he’s since ended his campaign.
The Florida Republican is finishing only slightly better in other polls. In FiveThirtyEight’s poll average, he’s polling at 11 percent nationally, and he’s still finishing behind Trump and Haley.
DeSantis expects to increase his poll numbers in the Granite State by spending more time there.
“What I found when I’m out is I will say, I will do my spiel, or I’ll just meet with voters, and people come up to me and they’ll say, ‘You flipped me from Trump to you. I’m with you now,” DeSantis reportedly said on The Pulse of NH.
Lately, DeSantis has been spending more time in Iowa, a state with a caucus set to occur even earlier than the New Hampshire primary. He’s received an endorsement from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, and he’s moved staffers to the Hawkeye State.
Yet, in Iowa, DeSantis is still polling in second place, according to FiveThirtyEight’s poll average published Monday. He’s pulling 17 percent, compared to Trump’s 45 percent.
The Horn editorial team