Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) recently surpassed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for second place in 2024 GOP presidential primary polls.
Although former President Donald Trump is still trouncing his competitors vying for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2024, Haley has reached 11% in polls, edging out DeSantis, who is at 10.9%, according to a RealClearPolitics poll average on Jan. 3, 2024.
Because you can spell denial without #DeSantis.
"Haley surpasses DeSantis in national GOP polling average"https://t.co/amPYOZCjLl— ClassicConservative 🇺🇸 🇮🇹 🇺🇦 (@ReturnToReagan) January 3, 2024
Since the beginning of his presidential campaign, Trump has dominated polls, with
DeSantis, who was in second place for months, having trailed the former president by double digits.
The Florida governor is now losing traction in polls, with Haley taking second place behind Trump.
The former South Carolina governor has surged in polls since the first Republican presidential primary debate, which was held in August 2023 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Haley’s slight increase in polls has led her and DeSantis to consistently attack each other on their stances concerning China, the ongoing Middle East war between Israel and Hamas, a terrorist organization, and “gender-affirming care” for minors.
On Nov. 18, 2023, a RealClearPolitics poll showed Haley at 10.4% and DeSantis at 14.1%, with Trump still leading the pack at 59.3%.
The survey marked the first time the former South Carolina governor had reached double digits. It came 10 days after the third GOP debate in Miami, Florida, where Haley attacked entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy for bringing up her daughter’s use of TikTok on the debate stage.
Following the fourth Republican debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, DeSantis aggressively went after Haley on whether her conservative stances were sincere. The former South Carolina governor said DeSantis was “lying” because he was losing the presidential race.
Nonetheless, Haley’s poll numbers continued to rise after the debate in Alabama. In December 2023, DeSantis’ lead over Haley decreased to less than one percentage point.
DeSantis and Haley are set to participate in the fifth GOP debate, hosted by CNN in Iowa on Jan. 10, 2024, just five days before the Iowa caucuses.
Trump has refused to participate in any GOP debates. The former president will not attend the forthcoming debate in the Hawkeye State and will instead partake in a town hall with Fox News on the same day.
