Donald Trump's lead narrows over Ron DeSantis in New Hampshire GOP poll

Former President Donald Trump's lead over his GOP rivals in the New Hampshire primary may be shrinking, according to a recent poll.

A recent poll in New Hampshire shows that former President Donald Trump’s big lead over his GOP rivals in the state that holds the first primary and the second contest overall in the Republican presidential nominating process may be narrowing.

CORRECTS CITY AND LOCATION - Former President Donald Trump waves as he departs after a visit with campaign volunteers at the Elks Lodge, Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) (AP)

The poll, released on Tuesday by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, indicates that Trump has the backing of 37% of likely Republican presidential primary voters in the Granite State. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis follows with 23%, while the rest of the large field of contenders are in single digits.

Trump’s lead over DeSantis has shrunk from 20 points to 14 points since the last UNH poll, which was conducted in April before the Florida governor launched his presidential bid.

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The lead is smaller than what other recent polls in New Hampshire showed, which indicated Trump had a much bigger polling edge over DeSantis and the rest of the field.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who’s running for president again, was at 6% along with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

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Former South Carolina Gov. and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman and political commentator Vivek Ramaswamy both had 5% in the survey, with everyone else at 1% or less.

Trump, who launched his third presidential bid in November, has visited New Hampshire four times this year. He and DeSantis had rival events in the state in late June.

Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the Celebrate Freedom Foundation Hangar in West Columbia, S.C. July 18, 2023. For DeSantis, Tuesday was supposed to mark a major moment to help reset his stagnant Republican presidential campaign. But yet again, the moment was overshadowed by Donald Trump. The former president was the overwhelming focus for much of the day as DeSantis spoke out at a press conference and sat for a highly anticipated interview designed to reassure anxious donors and primary voters that he's still well-positioned to defeat Trump.(AP Photo/Sean Rayford)

DeSantis came back to New Hampshire on July 4 to participate in two Independence Day parades. Three weeks ago, during his visit to the state, Trump officially opened his campaign’s New Hampshire office and his aides also announced their initial grassroots leadership team in the state.

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Trump’s strong win in New Hampshire’s primary helped him secure the GOP nomination and the White House, after he narrowly lost the 2016 Iowa presidential caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Only 35% of likely Republican nomination voters in New Hampshire polled in the survey said they had made up their minds on which candidate they would back, with six months to go until the primary. But among Trump supporters, that number soared to 76%.

The survey was conducted before Tuesday’s news that the former president had been told he’s a target of an investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol and attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

The UNH poll polled 898 likely Republican primary voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points