Nikki Haley only Republican to lead over Biden

Indian American presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is the only Republican candidate who is leading in a hypothetical matchup with Democratic President Joe Biden, according to a new poll.

The CNN poll, released Thursday and conducted by SSRS, found that Haley, former US ambassador to the UN, led Biden 49 percent to 43 percent, while every other major Republican candidate including former President Donald Trump remains neck-and-neck with Biden.

There is no clear leader in a potential rematch between Biden and Trump, who is widely ahead in the Republican primary. And nearly half of registered voters (46%) say that any Republican presidential nominee would be a better choice than Biden in 2024.

READ: Nikki Haley ‘surging’ in Iowa, raises $1 million after Republican debate (August 31, 2023)

Hypothetical matchups also suggest there would be no clear leader should Biden face one of the other major Republican contenders, with one notable exception: Biden runs behind Haley.

No other Republican hopeful — including former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott , Indian American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or Trump — showed more than a 2-point margin in the matchup with the sitting president.

When asked about a potential rematch between Trump and Biden, 47 percent said they would choose the former president and 46 percent said they would choose the current president.

Five percent said they would choose a different candidate and 2 percent said they did not plan to vote.

The poll also found that 46 percent of voters said any Republican presidential nominee would be better than Biden in next year’s election, while 32 percent said the sitting president would be a better choice than any of the Republican hopefuls.

In comparison, 44 percent said that any Democratic nominee would be better than Trump, while 38 percent said the former president is better than any Democratic nominee.

READ: Four Indian Americans are running for president. Could anyone have imagined two decades ago? (August 30, 2023)

Among Democrats, the poll discovered that 67 percent would like to see the party nominate someone other than Biden — which is up from the 54 percent who said the same in March.

Out of those who would like to see a different candidate, 82 percent said they did not have any specific person in mind. Just 1 percent said that they would vote for either of Biden’s 2024 challengers: author Marianne Williamson or Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Despite voters’ strong opinions toward Trump, Biden fares no better against any other Republican hopefuls tested in the poll. He is about even with Ron DeSantis (47 percent each), Mike Pence (46 percent Pence, 44 percent Biden), Tim Scott (46 percent Scott, 44 percent Biden), Vivek Ramaswamy (46 percent Biden, 45 percent Ramaswamy), and Chris Christie (44 percent Christie, 42 percent Biden).

Haley stands as the only Republican candidate to hold a lead over Biden, with 49 percent to Biden’s 43 percent in a hypothetical match between the two.

That difference is driven at least in part by broader support for Haley than for other Republicans among White voters with college degrees (she holds 51 percent of that group, compared with 48 percent or less for other Republicans tested in the poll).

As of now, Republican and Republican-leaning voters are more deeply driven to vote in 2024 (71 percent extremely motivated) than Democratic-aligned voters (61 percent extremely motivated).

The poll was conducted by SSRS from Aug. 25-31 among 1,259 registered voters and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.