Christie polling at 5% in New Hampshire

Former Gov. Chris Christie has catapulted into third place among Republicans in New Hampshire, according to a New Hampshire Institute of Politics/Saint Anselm College poll released today.

Donald Trump leads Ron DeSantis in the first GOP primary state by a 47%-19% margin, with Christie now just thirteen percentage points out of second place with 6%.   Nikki Haley is in fourth place with 5%, followed by Tim Scott (4%).  Four other candidates — Vivek Ramaswamy, Doug Burgum, Mike Pence, and Asa Hutchinson are at 2%.

Joe Biden is getting 68% of the vote among Democrats, leading Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (9%) and Marianne Williamson (8%).

“Trump is consolidating support in the face of several candidates diluting his opposition,” said Neil Levesque, the institute’s executive director.  “An astonishing 83% of voters overall would view a Biden/Trump rematch in 2024 as a clear sign that the party system is broken.  As of today, voters seem headed toward precipitating a rematch of 2020 that few claim to be happy about.”

Christie jumps to 11% among Republicans over age 65, to 11% among those who describe themselves as moderate, and 26% among “somewhat liberal” Republicans.

Among self-identified Democrats, Christie leads Scott, 31%-15%, with DeSantis at 8% and Trump at 5%.

An NBC News national poll released on Saturday put Christie’s favorables at 13% positive ad 43% negative among Republicans. In a first-choice ballot test, Trump has a 51%-22% lead over DeSantis, followed by Pence (7%),  Christie (5%), Haley (4%), Scott (3%), Ramaswamy (3%), and Hutchinson (2%).