Republicans see ideological differences between Trump and Haley (but didn't between Trump and DeSantis)
DeSantis and Haley were vying to be the last opponent standing to Trump, and with DeSantis suspending his campaign over the weekend, Haley got her wish. An interesting side-effect is that we now have more of an ideological race. In a November 2023 survey, I found that Republicans evaluated Trump and DeSantis as similarly conservative. Haley, however, they saw as more moderate. So with DeSantis's departure, we have a clearer ideological divide.
—Dan Hopkins, 538 contributor