Christie leapfrogs DeSantis with New Hampshire voters, latest 2024 poll finds

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has pulled ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in New Hampshire, according to a new survey of voters in the early presidential primary state. 

Christie is in second place in the Granite State, well behind embattled former President Donald Trump, but leading DeSantis, who has fallen to single digits amid a flurry of recent campaign team shakeups and strategy shifts, the Emerson College poll released Tuesday shows.

The new poll of 837 registered New Hampshire voters, conducted between Aug. 9 and Aug. 11, pegs support for Trump, 77, at 49%. 

Christie, 60, garnered the support of 9% of voters and DeSantis, 44, received 8% support. 

DeSantis’ support in New Hampshire has plummeted since March, when Emerson College found the Sunshine State governor receiving the backing of 17% of voters.

Christie’s 1-point lead over him falls within the latest poll’s 3.4 percentage point margin of error.

“DeSantis has been the alternative to Trump in Emerson polling this presidential cycle. This is the first time we have seen DeSantis drop out of second place in our polling, and fall back into the pack of candidates,” Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College Polling, explained in a statement.

Christie’s 2024 campaign, while failing to gather much national steam, has intensely focused on New Hampshire. 

The former New Jersey governor announced his entrance into the 2024 GOP fray during an event in the Granite State. 

The DeSantis campaign, while making several trips to New Hampshire, seems to be prioritizing Iowa, which will hold the first GOP nominating contest on Jan. 15, 2024. 

His campaign recently hired David Polyansky, an Iowa political operative, as DeSantis’ new deputy campaign manager.

The Florida governor also glad-handed voters at the Iowa State Fair this weekend and has appeared at several events with the Hawkeye State’s popular governor, Republican Kim Reynolds. 

The Emerson College poll found Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), 57, behind DeSantis with 6% support in New Hampshire, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, 67, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, 51, tied for fifth place with 4% support, respectively. 

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, received 3% support, businessman Perry Johnson, 75, got 2%, and former Vice President Mike Pence, 64, and former Rep. Will Hurd, 45, both received 1%.

The poll found 13% of voters still undecided.