Support for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) plummeted in the battleground state of New Hampshire. On Wednesday, he was in fifth place, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy had taken over the second place spot.
DeSantis, once widely viewed as former President Donald Trump’s top rival, garnered 10% of support from likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire, according to a CNN-University of New Hampshire survey released Wednesday. Trump remains the GOP field’s leader and has 39% support.
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The new poll shows a significant drop in support from July, when the Florida governor was closest to Trump and sat at 23% support compared to the former president’s 37%.
The candidates ahead of DeSantis include Ramaswamy in second with 13%, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley with 12%, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with 11%. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) was at 6%, and former Vice President Mike Pence had 2%. No other GOP contender ranked above 1%.
Ramaswamy, a political newcomer, has been a top-polling presidential candidate, often placing second in national surveys recently. His campaign team told the Washington Examiner, “Vivek is just getting warmed up.”
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The full survey was conducted on 2,107 New Hampshire adults and had a sampling error of plus or minus 2.1%. Results from 845 probable GOP primary voters had an error margin of plus or minus 3.4%, and CNN stated the margin of error would be larger for subgroups.
New Hampshire is a key battleground state in the election cycle for GOP presidential hopefuls, and candidates campaign early and often in the first-in-the-nation primary state. The Democratic National Committee moved to change its nominating calendar in 2024, leaving the contest date in New Hampshire unsettled by putting South Carolina ahead. Secretary of State David Scanlan said he’ll fight to maintain the state law that ensures New Hampshire holds the first primary.
