
<p>Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley has surged nationally in a new exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, challenging a faltering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the top alternative to Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination.</p>



<p>Haley&#8217;s support has risen to 11% of registered voters who plan to vote in GOP primaries or caucuses, up from 4% in the ;USA TODAY/Suffolk poll taken in June ;and just 1 percentage point below DeSantis. His 12% standing was a steep fall from his 23% support four months ago.</p>



<p>However, despite the battle between DeSantis and Haley for a dismal second place, Trump continues to dominate the field, now at 58%, up another 10 points since the last USA TODAY poll.</p>



<p>The survey ;of 309 Republican and Republican-leaning voters, taken Tuesday through Friday by landline and cellphone, has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.6 percentage points.</p>



<p>Haley already has edged narrowly ahead of DeSantis In New Hampshire and South Carolina, which hold early contests on the primary calendar.</p>



<p>The two contenders have been targeting each other, sparring in public over Mideast policy and competing in private with appeals to major Republican donors.</p>



<p>DeSantis did not pull any punches jabbing at his now direct rival, suggesting himself and in attack ads by a PAC that a “President Haley” would allow refugees from war-torn Gaza into the US, and by implication, Hamas terrorists along with them.</p>



<p>Haley said she didn&#8217;t support any such idea and accused DeSantis of distorting her previous remarks.</p>



<p>As to the rest of the contenders, none scored higher than 3% in the new poll, all of them losing modest ground since June. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy were at 3%. Former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and talk show host Larry Elder were at 1%.</p>



<p>In this new poll, which had Haley gaining significant ground, she did better among men than women, and she showed particular strength in the Midwest and the Northeast. She drew more support than DeSantis among college graduates and among political independents. He was somewhat stronger among Republicans.</p>

DeSantis Continues to Plunge As Nikki Haley Surges!
