Haley leapfrogs DeSantis to take No. 2 spot but remains miles behind front-runner Trump

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley passed Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for second place in the GOP primary, according to a Wall Street Journal poll conducted days before Wednesday’s GOP primary debate in which the former United Nations ambassador was the subject of repeated attacks.

Every Republican White House hopeful is still far behind former President Donald Trump, who holds 59% of the vote, according to the poll released Thursday. Haley narrowly surpassed DeSantis, who has been stuck in neutral for months, polling at 15% compared to the Florida governor’s 14%.

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Haley has soared 7 points in the latest survey, taken Nov. 29-Dec. 4, compared to the outlet’s last poll conducted four months ago. DeSantis has risen slightly after polling at 13% in September. Trump’s lead was unchanged since the last survey.

“This latest poll shows why everyone was attacking Nikki Haley last night — because she has surged into second place, and this is now a two-person race — between one man and one woman,” Haley spokesman Ken Farnaso told the Washington Examiner. “Nikki is the best candidate to take on Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and voters are flocking to her message of a strong and proud America.”

In the GOP debate hosted by NewsNation, DeSantis joined entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in blasting Haley for accepting donations from wealthy donors, telling the audience that she will “cave to the donors” who are “liberal” and “make money in China.”

Haley responded by saying, “He’s mad because those Wall Street donors used to support him, and now, they support me.”

Haley was mocked by Ramaswamy as “corrupt.” The two have had an intense rivalry on the campaign trail, often trading attacks on the debate stage.

“You have a corruption problem. And I think that that’s what people need to know. Nikki is corrupt,” Ramaswamy said, holding up his notepad, which said, “Nikki = Corrupt.”

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Haley dismissed his attacks, telling the moderator, “It’s not worth my time to respond to him.”

The Washington Examiner reached out to DeSantis’s campaign for comment.