Washington: Florida governor Ron DeSantis, once considered a chief rival of former president Donald Trump, has fallen behind two Indian American presidential candidates - entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley - in the latest GOP polls in the crucial early primary state of New Hampshire, a CNN survey showed.
According to the CNN/University of New Hampshire poll, Trump remains the first choice with 39% of likely GOP primary voters in the first-in-the-nation primary state. “That lags a bit behind his performance nationally, where Republican primary polling routinely finds Trump with majority support,” the news channel reported. Ramaswamy is next to Trump with 13% support, closely followed by Haley at 12% and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie at 11%, CNN reported. “DeSantis’ decline stems from a sharp drop-off among moderates, from 26% backing him in July to 6% now,” the opinion poll said.
According to the poll, Ramaswamy’s popularity is concentrated more among those who are not registered Republicans and among younger likely voters. Haley’s increase is a bit larger among those with more formal education and among moderates, while her support among conservatives is roughly even with July, the poll showed.