Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has enjoyed a surprising surge in support over the past few weeks as her campaign pushes toward the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries. Haley has climbed in the polls to the point where she is slowly edging out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the second-place contender for the Republican presidential nomination.

Yet, it’s not all roses for Haley’s campaign. She has struggled to attract Republican female voters, which is ironic given the fact that she is a woman.

Nationally, Haley has fallen behind when it comes to wooing women voters. In an Emerson College poll from early December, she holds 19 percent of support among Republican men — and just 8 percent among Republican women.

Those numbers are slightly better among likely Republican primary voters in early primary states.

Based on Emerson polling, she has 25 percent support among both men and women in South Carolina, 20 percent support among women and 15 percent support among men in Iowa and 31 percent support among men and 26 percent among women in New Hampshire.

Haley’s numbers among women might not be as much of an issue in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, but what happens when those races have concluded? The candidate will have to figure out how to appeal to this critical voting demographic.

Abortion could be an issue for the candidate even though the report centered on Republican women. The Politico article noted:

But her low national polling numbers with women are still likely to drag her down, says Lauren Leader, founder and CEO of the nonprofit All In Together, a women’s civic education organization.

Leader, a frequent commentator on women in politics, says that Haley’s struggles with Republican women voters could be related to her stance on abortion — which has largely stayed the same for her entire campaign.

At a Fox News Town Hall Monday night that focused on “Women’s Issues,” Haley was asked if she would sign a six-week abortion ban. Her response didn’t veer from her familiar talking points: A national six-week ban, she said, would never get 60 votes in the Senate, and we need to “be honest with the American people” about its likelihood of passing. But she also said that she’ll sign anything that comes to her desk.

“Nikki Haley has the fundamental problem which is, primary voters are different than who she’s going to need to win the general,” Leader tells Women Rule. “It’s putting her in a box.”

However, it is worth noting that most Republican women are pro-life, which means they might be more in line with Haley’s stance than the report suggests, so it does not seem likely that the abortion issue is a major factor in attracting this group of voters.

It is also worth acknowledging the presence of former President Donald Trump, who is looming large over the Republican presidential field. For many, Trump still represents the party regardless of the candidate field. Haley served as U.N. Ambassador under Trump as well, and this tie could also be harming Haley’s appeal to female voters, given that many are turned off by the former president. While Haley has made it a point to differentiate herself from the former president, this might prove to be a hard sell to Republican women.