Nikki Haley’s campaign raises $11m as poll puts her as Trump’s closest rival

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Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley raised over $11m from July to September, her campaign has said, further boosting her chances of being the person to take on current favourite Donald Trump.

The former South Carolina governor is vying for position with Ron DeSantis, having recently taken the lead in some polls with just over three months to go before the first GOP nominating contest in Iowa.

Despite her increased haul – up from $7.3m last quarter – Ms Haley still lags behind the Florida governor in terms of fundraising, and even further behind former president Trump.

Ms Haley’s campaign said she had attracted nearly 40,000 new donors in the third quarter alone and that she had $9.1m cash on hand. It follows strong performances in both GOP debates and a tireless campaign schedule.

“We have seen a big surge in support and have real momentum,” Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement.

“Nikki is emerging as the candidate who can move America beyond the chaos and drama of the past and present, and we have the resources we need to do it.”

According to polling site FiveThirtyEight, Ms Haley currently sits at 13.1 per cent in opinion polls in New Hampshire – an early nominating state – ahead of Mr DeSantis, who is at 10.2 per cent

Last week Mr DeSantis’ campaign reported that he had “shattered expectations” by bringing in $15m in fundraising during the period. The campaign said that of this total, it would have $5m cash in hand.

However, both Ms Haley and Mr DeSantis still lag far behind Mr Trump in both the polls and fundraising.

Last week the former president’s campaign announced it had raised more than $45.5m in the third quarter, with over $37.5m cash on hand. FiveThirtyEight has Mr Trump sitting at 45 per cent approval rating in New Hampshire polls.

The campaign said the totals were a testament to the “overwhelming grassroots support” behind Mr Trump and, in typical fashion, took aim at Mr DeSantis, speculating that his candidacy “may not live to see the Iowa caucuses in January, or even, the end of this month”.