Nikki Haley is only GOP presidential candidate to decisively beat Joe Biden in new poll
By Carl Samson
September 7, 2023
Former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley emerged as the only Republican presidential candidate who can decisively beat Joe Biden in 2024, a new poll shows.
Results: Haley, 51, struck a commanding 49% against Biden’s 43%, according to the CNN/SSRS poll released today. This is the only result to exceed the margin of error.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump received 47% to Biden’s 46%; former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott both received 46% to Biden’s 44% and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie received 44% to Biden’s 42%. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tied with Biden at 47%, while entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy trailed Biden’s 46% at 45%.
Why this matters: Haley, the only woman and one of three Indian Americans running for the GOP nomination, has positioned herself as the biggest threat to Democrats in the general election. A senior Democratic strategist close to the Biden campaign also told Politico that “If they nominate Nikki Haley, we’re in trouble.”
With policies that resonate to more moderate voters, Haley’s numbers have reportedly surged since the first Republican primary debate last month. For starters, a Washington Post/FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos survey showed that after her performance, 46% of Republican primary voters said they would vote for her, up from just 29% before the event.
Primary polling: Republican primary polling, however, still shows Trump at the top of the pack. As of press time, the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate shows the former president as having a 38.7-point lead over DeSantis, the only other GOP candidate reaping double digits.
The big picture: Haley faces an uphill battle to win the GOP nomination, but the primaries are still months away. “Go ahead and underestimate me, that’ll be fun,” she wrote on X last month.
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