DeSantis and Haley vie for second in Republican debate as Christie drops out

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis participate in the fourth Republican candidates’ debate of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign hosted by NewsNation at the University of Alabama in Tusc

By Tim Reid and Nathan Layne

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) -Republican U.S. presidential rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley prepared to face off in a Wednesday debate where they will they seek to be the clear alternative to frontrunner Donald Trump, as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie abandoned his flailing effort for the party’s nomination.

Florida Governor DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Haley have little time left to halt Trump’s march toward the nomination, with the former president holding 49% support among Republicans in a nationwide Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday, far ahead of second-placed Haley at 12%.

Christie, a fierce Trump critic, announced an end to his campaign in New Hampshire on Wednesday. He had the support of just 2% of Republicans in the poll, the same level of support as former Representative Liz Cheney, who never declared herself a candidate.

“I would rather lose by telling the truth than lie in order to win,” Christie told the audience at a town hall in Windham, faulting his rivals for failing to confront Trump more directly.

He did not immediately endorse another candidate.

In their battle to become the leading challenger to Trump, Haley and DeSantis have been intensifying attacks on each other in recent days and are expected to unleash furious salvos in the CNN debate, which begins at 9 p.m. ET (0200 GMT on Thursday).

Two polls released on Tuesday showed Haley cutting Trump’s lead in the second state due to pick its Republican candidate, New Hampshire, where a primary will be held on Jan. 23. DeSantis is trailing in fourth place there, polling averages show, while he and Haley are essentially tied for second in Iowa.

Wednesday’s prime-time debate in Des Moines, Iowa, will allow Haley, who served as United Nations ambassador under Trump, and DeSantis, Florida’s governor, to draw the sharpest contrasts between themselves yet after other candidates failed to qualify to join them on stage.

Beating each other out for second place in Iowa will be critical in their efforts to turn the race into a one-on-one matchup against Trump.

‘LAST AND BEST (NYSE:BEST) CHANCE’

The Republican nominee is set to face President Joe Biden in November’s election, where the latest Reuters/Ipsos polling puts Trump and Biden tied at 35%.

“The debate will be their last and best chance to tell Iowa caucus-goers why they deserve to be the alternative to former President Trump and why they should have a head-to-head shot at him,” said Jimmy Centers, an Iowa-based Republican strategist unaffiliated with a campaign.

Trump will once again skip the debate, the fifth of the nominating cycle. He will hold a rival event, a town hall on Fox News, at the same time and close by in Des Moines, Iowa’s capital.

Trump’s Iowa campaign has been far more organized and heavily staffed than his 2016 effort, when he placed second in the Midwestern state to U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.

Trump mostly has avoided smaller, more intimate gatherings in bars and school gyms, the traditional staple of Iowa campaigns, opting instead to deploy allies to hold such events on his behalf while he headlines large rallies.

His campaign uses the events to scoop up personal information that allows for follow-up calls and texts to remind supporters to show up for the caucuses.

DeSantis, meanwhile, is banking his campaign on a strong showing in Iowa. He has visited all 99 counties and has been wooing evangelical Christian voters, a powerful voting bloc in the state.

With temperatures in Iowa expected to fall further below freezing and more snow and treacherous conditions expected, getting their supporters out on the day will be crucial to the campaigns.

“I’m going to need earmuffs,” DeSantis said at a gathering of building contractors in Des Moines on Wednesday morning.

Haley has pitched voters in Iowa on her more pragmatic approach to issues such as abortion, and on her hawkish foreign policy, a stance at odds with the more isolationist Trump and DeSantis.

Asked to comment on the debate, a Haley spokesperson focused on Trump instead of DeSantis.

“With the debate stage down to just two, the time for Donald Trump’s hiding is just about over,” spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.