While Donald Trump remains on top of the polls with a huge lead over his rivals for the GOP nomination, the battle for second place appears to be heating up. In a new Emerson College Polling survey of New Hampshire, Chris Christie has overtaken Ron DeSantis in the early-voting state, with 9% to the Florida governor's 8%, the Hill reports. Trump is at 49% in the poll, which was taken before he was indicted for the fourth time. Tim Scott is in fourth place with 6%, with Nikki Haley and Doug Burgum at 4%. Mike Pence scored just 1%, with 13% undecided.
"DeSantis has been the alternative to Trump in Emerson polling this presidential cycle," says Emerson College Polling executive director Spencer Kimball. "This is the first time we have seen DeSantis drop out of second place in our polling, and fall back into the pack of candidates." Christie has been spending a lot of time in New Hampshire, which votes second and probably represents the former New Jersey governor's best chance of making an impact in the race, the Guardian reports. DeSantis, meanwhile, has been concentrating on Iowa, which is first to vote. Christie and DeSantis have both qualified for next week's GOP debate. Trump has refused to sign a Republican loyalty oath and might skip the debate. (More Election 2024 stories.)
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