Haley dead even with DeSantis while Trump still crushes them all: poll

Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are running dead even for second place in the 2024 Republican primary, a recent national poll found.

DeSantis, 45, and Haley, 51, both scored 8% apiece, while former President Donald Trump dominated all of his GOP peers with 59% support, according to the Emerson College poll.

All other candidates hovered in the lower single digits with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence and multimillionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy each nabbing 3% support.

Ten percent of voters were undecided.

Haley’s performance marked a roughly five-point bounce from a similar Emerson College poll last month, capping off an upward polling trajectory she’s had since the first GOP debate back in August.

She still trails DeSantis in the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate, clinching 7.4% nationally on average, while DeSantis sat at 12.8% and Trump, 77, scored 59.1%.

The former South Carolina governor recently won the endorsement of Palmetto State newspaper the Post and Courier.

Haley and DeSantis have had a war of words in recent days about whether the US should accept refugees from Gaza.

The candidates and their respective allies have also jostled behind the scenes to lock down donors.

Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign has kicked back and watched from the sidelines in amusement — with one Trump adviser characterizing it as a “Biggest Loser fight with Nikki” to The Post.

Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung has also taken some jabs at the two in social media posts.

In addition to Trump topping his primary competition, the Emerson College poll pegged him with a 47% to 45% edge over President Biden.

“Of those who say they hold Biden responsible for the economy, 58% said they are worse off financially than they were a year ago with 23% saying they are better off,” Matt Taglia, Senior Director of Emerson College Polling, explained.

“Of those who hold Trump responsible for the current economy, 39% reported being better off financially, while 27% said they were worse off.”

Trump also retains a minuscule 0.6 percentage point advantage over Biden in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of national polling.

The Emerson poll was conducted from Oct. 16-17 among 1,578 registered voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.