Another New Hampshire poll finds Ron DeSantis in fourth place

When it comes to the first-in-the-nation Primary, Florida’s Governor may finish out of the money.

That’s the sobering conclusion to be drawn from a fresh survey from the University of New Hampshire.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is in fourth place in the CNN New Hampshire Primary Poll, 1 point ahead of fifth place Vivek Ramaswamy and decisively behind former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (14%), former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (20%), and former President Donald Trump, who leads the field with 42% support.

“DeSantis continues to decline in the eyes of New Hampshire Republicans,” reads a write-up contextualizing the nasty numbers. “He led the GOP field in January with 43%.”

DeSantis performs worst in the Manchester region, where he musters a minuscule 2% support. He’s little better off in the Seacoast area, with 5% backing.

In even grimmer news, DeSantis could have further to fall yet.

Only 15% of DeSantis supporters are definitely committed to their choice, compared to 25% of Christie backers, 27% of Haley enthusiasts, 61% of Ramaswamy rooters, and 82% of those backing the former President.

New Hampshire Republican Primary voters also see the Florida Governor as an unlikely winner in November 2024, in the event he gets the nomination. Just 5% believe he has what it takes to carry the GOP back to the White House in the General Election.

There also is clear doubt that DeSantis has what it takes to accomplish GOP priorities. Just 7% of respondents see him as best in the field to handle the Gaza War, 6% of all respondents (and 4% of women) see him as the man to hash out the abortion issue, and 5% trust him most when it comes to the economy.

One positive for DeSantis is that he is still the top second choice, with 19% of all respondents seeing him as their fallback option. That said, it’s exceedingly unlikely the field narrows between now and the Jan. 23 Primary.

And in the event he got the nomination, only 24% of respondents say they would be enthusiastic about his candidacy, while 28% say they wouldn’t vote for him under any circumstances (which is actually worse than afterthought Asa Hutchinson’s 27%).

Correlating to that data point, he’s actually underwater with GOP Primary voters in the Granite State, as 38% have a favorable impression of DeSantis while 39% are sour on the Governor.

DeSantis is also not seen as a winner of last week’s GOP presidential debate in Miami.

Just 10% of respondents say he prevailed, with 28% choosing Ramaswamy and 37% hailing Haley’s performance.

That said, this isn’t the worst recent poll for the Florida Governor in New Hampshire.

That dubious distinction belongs to the new Emerson College Polling/WHDH poll of New Hampshire voters, which finds the Florida Governor having slumped to 7%.