Poll: Nearly half of Haley's Iowa backers say they'll vote for Biden

Nearly half of Nikki Haley's supporters say they'd vote for President Joe Biden over Trump.

Posted 2:20 p.m. Jan 14 — Updated 2:20 p.m. Jan 14

NBC

DES MOINES, IOWA — Most likely Republican Iowa caucusgoers say they'll vote for former President Donald Trump in the general election if he's the GOP nominee, regardless of the candidate they're supporting on Caucus Night.

Except supporters of former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, with nearly half of them – 43% – saying they'd vote for President Joe Biden over Trump.

These are new findings from the latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of Iowa, which also shows three-quarters of caucusgoers believing Trump can defeat Biden despite the former president's legal challenges – but again with a majority of Haley's supporters thinking it will be nearly impossible for Trump to win.

"I am more officially a Democrat who used to be a Republican and have kind of switched over, and basically I'm wanting to caucus in Iowa for the least of the worst," said poll respondent Chelsea Cheney of Linn County, 37.

"And in looking through all of them, I think I think that's Nikki Haley. I don't necessarily love her, but I don't find her dangerous in ways that I find many of the other candidates dangerous," Cheney added.

Overall, the poll finds 71% of likely GOP caucusgoers saying they'll vote for Trump in the 2024 general election if he's the Republican presidential nominee, versus 11% who will vote for Biden, 6% who will vote for independent Robert Kennedy Jr. and 8% for another third-party candidate.

But among the Iowa caucusgoers who are supporting Haley as their first-choice candidate – half of whom are independents and crossover Democrats – just 23% say they'll vote for Trump, versus 43% who say they'll vote for Biden.

That compares with 64% of DeSantis supporters and 98% of Trump backers who say they’ll vote for Trump if he’s the GOP nominee.

In addition, the NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of Iowa finds 74% of likely Republican caucusgoers saying that Trump can win a general election despite his legal challenges, versus 23% who believe the former president’s legal challenges make it nearly impossible to defeat Biden.

Those results are essentially unchanged from December’s Iowa poll.

But among Haley’s supporters, 42% say Trump can win against Biden, while 54% say his legal challenges will make it nearly impossible to defeat the current Democratic president.

By comparison, only 36% of DeSantis’ supporters and just 3% of Trump’s express doubts about the former president’s chances against Biden.

The NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of Iowa was conducted Jan. 7-12 of 705 likely Republican caucusgoers, and it has an overall margin of error of plus-minus 3.7 percentage points.

Suggest A Correction