A new poll conducted by CNN shows that twice-elected South Carolina Governor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley could be the biggest threat to President Joe Biden’s re-election ambitions.
According to the poll, in a hypothetical head-to-head 2024 matchup, 49 percent would vote for Haley, compared to 43 percent who say they would choose Biden.
The polling data suggest that though Haley is only polling around 6 percent in the Republican primary (trailing Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy), she could stand the best chance at defeating Biden in next year’s general election.
In the same poll, when presented with the option of voting for either former President Donald Trump or Biden, Trump bested Biden by only 1 point (47-46).
As CNN explains, the wider lead by Haley “is driven at least in part by broader support for Haley than for other Republicans among White voters with college degrees (she holds 51 percent of that group, compared with 48 percent or less for other Republicans tested in the poll).”
Haley’s stock has been rising after what some voters say was a sharp performance during the first Republican primary presidential debate, held in the key battleground state of Wisconsin last month.
“People didn’t know for sure before,” Ann Mathers, a voter from Indian Land, told NBC News of her friends’ and neighbors’ views of whom to support in the presidential primary ahead of the debate. “But of all the candidates, they liked her the best because she was not afraid to speak out about the issues. She wasn’t the person who was there trying to become the next vice president by not saying anything negative about the former [president].”
Mathers added, “I mean, I’m in the same camp. That’s why I’m here. I wanted to make sure that what I was thinking before is real. And after hearing her [today], I think she’s real.”
Haley entered the presidential race in February and until now has consistently polled around 4.4 percent.
Following the debate, a polling firm that works for the DeSantis campaign released an internal Iowa poll, showing Haley surging to double digits (10 percent) in Iowa.
