Haley is Second Choice for 52% of Christie Voters

A new Emerson College Polling/WHDH New Hampshire survey finds former President Donald Trump leading the Republican Primary with 44% support, followed by Nikki Haley with 28%. Haley has gained ten points since November, while Trump has lost five. Chris Christie, who suspended his campaign on Wednesday evening, received 12% of voter support. Ron DeSantis holds 7%, and Vivek Ramaswamy holds 4%, while five percent remain undecided.  

“Haley’s support has grown in New Hampshire from 4% in August to 28% with under two weeks until the primary,” Spencer Kimball, Executive Director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Haley’s base is among older voters, independent voters, and those with postgraduate degrees. Haley leads Trump 38% to 35% among those over 70, leads among voters with postgraduate degrees, 40% to 31%, and among independent voters, 37% to 31%.”

  • Trump’s support is highest among young Republicans: 54% of voters under 30 support Trump, while 20% support Haley, 8% Christie, 6% DeSantis, and 6% Ramaswamy.
  • Trump leads Haley among male Republican Primary voters by eleven points, 42% to 31%, and by 20 points among women Republican Primary voters, 46% to 26%.
  • Among the 12% of Chris Christie’s supporters, 52% name Nikki Haley as their second choice, 12% Hutchinson 10%, DeSantis and 2% Trump; 16% are undecided. 

In the Democratic Primary, 49% of voters plan to write-in President Biden, as he will not appear on the ballot. Sixteen percent plan to vote for Dean Phillips, 5% Marianne Williamson, and 3% plan to vote for someone else. Twenty-seven percent are undecided. 

“Voters who plan to write-in Joe Biden increase with age: from 16% of voters under 30, to 35% of voters in their 30s, 43% of voters in their 40s, 57% of voters in their 50s, 74% of voters in their 60s, and 77% of voters over 70s,” Kimball noted. “Forty-one percent of voters under 30 are undecided, while 32% support Dean Phillips.”

Twenty-nine percent of New Hampshire presidential primary voters say the economy is the top issue facing the state, while 21% find housing affordability to be the most important issue, 15% find ‘threats to democracy’ to be the top issue, 10% immigration, 7% healthcare, 6% education, and 6% find abortion access to be the top issue.

Methodology

The Emerson College Polling New Hampshire survey was conducted January 8-10, 2024. The sample of New Hampshire presidential primary voters, n=1,340, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 2.6 percentage points. The Republican primary has a sample of n=751, with a credibility interval of +/- 3.5%. The Democratic primary has a sample size of n=590, with a credibility interval of +/- 4%. 

Data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, and region based on 2024 registration modeling. Turnout modeling is based on U.S. Census parameters, and New Hampshire voter registration information. Data was collected by contacting an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system of landlines, MMS-to-web, and a voter list of emails provided by Aristotle, an online panel of voters provided by Alchemer.

It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.

All questions asked in this survey with exact wording, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found under “Full Results.” This survey was sponsored by WHDH.