According to a recent Messenger/Harris survey released on Tuesday, President Joe Biden is currently trailing behind former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in direct comparisons, but Haley is still not as popular as former President Donald Trump among Republican voters.
The survey posed questions to participants about their voting preferences if the election were held today, featuring different potential Republican candidates against Biden. In these hypothetical matchups, both Trump and Haley emerged ahead of Biden, but Biden narrowly surpassed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The results showed:
- 47% favoring Trump compared to 40% for Biden.
- 41% favoring Haley against Biden’s 37%.
- 41% supporting Biden over 40% for DeSantis.
When asked about preferences in the Republican presidential primary if it were held today, the responses were:
- Trump received 43% support from all voters.
- Haley was chosen by 36% of voters.
- 21% of voters were undecided or did not know who to choose.
The breakdown of party-wise preferences revealed:
- Among Republicans, 76% preferred Trump, 19% favored Haley, and 5% were undecided or unsure.
- In the Democratic camp, 15% opted for Trump, 52% for Haley, and 33% were unsure or did not know.
- Independents showed a mixed response with 36% for Trump, 40% for Haley, and 24% undecided or unsure.
Dritan Nesho, CEO and chief pollster at HarrisX, commented that Haley’s appeal is mainly among moderate Republicans, Independents, and disenchanted voters. He noted that while she clearly wins against Biden in a general election setting, she still has significant work to do to win over Republican voters.
This HarrisX poll was conducted between November 27 and December 1, involving 2,018 registered voters nationwide. The margin of error for this survey is plus or minus 2 percentage points.
