DeSantis beats Trump in 2024 GOP primary — if Nikki Haley stays out: poll

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leads former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical 2024 GOP presidential primary, as long as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley stays on the sidelines, a new poll finds.

In a head-to-head matchup, DeSantis, 44, gets the better of the 76-year-old former commander-in-chief, the Yahoo News/YouGov survey released Wednesday shows — with 45% of registered Republican voters or GOP-leaning independents favoring the Florida governor and 41% supporting Trump. With Haley in the mix, however, the survey finds Trump leads the field with 38% support, followed by DeSantis (35%) and Haley (11%). 

Haley, who served as US ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, is expected to announce her 2024 presidential candidacy on Feb. 15. At 11%, she is polling better than former Vice President Mike Pence (4%), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (2%), and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (1%), according to the survey. 

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At 51, Haley is 25 years younger than Trump, and she argued during an interview with Fox News last month that it is time for a younger generation of leaders in Washington.  

“When you’re looking at the future of America, I think it’s time for new generational change,” she said. “I don’t think you need to be 80 years old to go be a leader in DC. I think we need a young generation to come in, step up, and really start fixing things.”

Trump told reporters in January that Haley had reached out and informed him that she was considering launching a presidential campaign, and he gave his blessings to her White House aspirations.

“She called me and said she’d like to consider it, and I said, ‘You should do it,’” Trump said at the time.

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Haley is among several possible GOP White House hopefuls already staffing up in the early primary and caucus states. 

Beyond Haley, Pence, Hogan, and Pompeo, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson are having conversations with political operatives in New Hampshire and Iowa about job openings, according to the Associated Press. 

Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has also shown interest in 2024, launching the “Live Free or Die” national political committee this week to test his ability to raise funds for a possible White House run. 

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Apart from beating Trump in a two-candidate race, the Yahoo/YouGov poll finds DeSantis also leads Biden in general election polling by one percentage point (44% to 43%), while Trump trails Biden by six percentage points (47% to 41%) in the same poll.

The Yahoo News/YouGov survey of 1,585 US adults was conducted from Feb. 2 to 6.