Former President Donald Trump has majority support in Iowa while garnering support from half of likely voters in New Hampshire, the latest CBS News survey examining the Republican primary race found.
Despite their greatest efforts over the past several months, Trump’s Republican primary challengers have failed to put a dent in his lead both nationally as well in early states, and the latest CBS News survey demonstrates that reality.
In Iowa, where the Trump campaign seeks to deliver a “knockout punch” to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump leads with majority support, as 51 percent of likely Iowa GOP caucus goers support him.
DeSantis lands 30 points behind with 21 percent support in the Hawkeye State, while the remaining candidates remain in the single digits. That includes former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (eight percent), South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (six percent), former Vice President Mike Pence (six percent), anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy (five percent), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (one percent), and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (one percent), the last of whom did not make the stage for the second debate in Simi Valley, California.
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In New Hampshire — a state the DeSantis campaign has primarily focused on — Trump leads with support from half of likely Granite State Republican voters. He is up 37 points above DeSantis, who comes in with 13 percent. The results are actually better for DeSantis in this survey compared to other New Hampshire polls, some of which have shown him falling to fourth and fifth place.
Haley comes just two points behind DeSantis with 11 percent support, followed by Ramaswamy and Christie, both of whom garnered eight percent support. Scott saw five percent support, and remaining candidates saw two percent support or less.
The surveys were taken September 15-24, 2023, among 1,011 registered voters in Iowa and 943 in New Hampshire. The margin of error is +/- 6.1 percent and +/- 5.4 percent, respectively.
The results came ahead of the second debate, which took place Wednesday evening. Only seven candidates participated, as Hutchinson did not make the cut, and Trump met with striking auto workers in Michigan.
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