Christie not included in New Hampshire GOP primary poll because of lack of interest in his candidacy

Former Gov. Chris Christie is at 0% in a University of New Hampshire Granite State Poll of likely 2024 Republican presidential primary voters because the pollster didn’t take his prospective candidacy seriously enough to include his name.

“He was not (included), largely for space reasons and lack of discussion of him,” said Dr. Andrew E. Smith, the director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, told the New Jersey Globe.

The poll showed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump statistically tied, with 39% for DeSantis and 37% for Trump.

“Trump slipping in pre-primary polls is part of a typical pattern,” Smith said. “A party’s losing candidate in the prior election is typically the best-known person in their party. As the primary gets closer, new candidates emerge and attract more media attention, and therefore more voter attention, than the losing candidate from the previous election.”

Christie has pointedly encouraged speculation that he will make a second White House bid, despite lethargic sales of his 2021 book  and a 2016 campaign that netted him just 7% of the vote in New Hampshire.

But Christie remains in the public eye as an ABC news commentator and continues to play in New Hampshire, where his former aide, Matt Mowers, is running for Congress.

In a general election matchup, Biden would beat Trump in New Hampshire by seven points, one less than his actual 2020 margin.   DeSantis leads Biden, 47%-46%, a statistical tie.

Among Republicans, DeSantis has a 66% net favorable rating, while Trump is at 46%.  Pence’s net favorables among New Hampshire GOP voters is -4%.

Of the next tier of candidates, Noem has the highest net favorables (35%) among New Hampshire GOP voters, followed by Hawley (24%), Tim Scott and Cotton (22%, Abbott (20%) and Cruz (18%).

The rest of the pack of potential Republican candidates are in the single-digits: former Vice President Mike Pence (9%); and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley (6%).  Polling at the 1% mark were former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.

Other candidates included on the poll did not register: U.S. Senators Rick Scott (Florida), Tom Cotton (Arkansas, Todd Hawley (Missouri), and Tim Scott (South Carolina); and Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.

The poll was conducted between June 16-20 with a sample size of 944 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.2%.

UNH Granite State Poll June 2022