Republican Kelly Ayotte holds a 59-25 percent lead over Chuck Morse in the latest St. Anselm College Survey Center poll released Thursday, maintaining her position as the prohibitive favorite in the GOP primary to replace outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu.
It’s just the latest good news for Ayotte. Earlier in the day, Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais endorsed the former U.S. senator in the GOP primary.
“Tonight’s numbers further prove Kelly has the momentum and grassroots backing to stop Democrats from turning New Hampshire into Massachusetts and keep our state safe, prosperous, and free,” said campaign spokesman John Corbett. “Gov. Sununu, Mayor Ruais, and Republicans across New Hampshire are uniting behind Kelly to keep the Corner Office in Republican hands.”
“This race is about proving one thing: New Hampshire is not for sale,” Morse said in response to the new numbers.
“Kelly Ayotte has spent over 2 million dollars to try and buy this race for corporate interests and she has utterly flatlined. The most recent Saint A’s poll shows no amount of out-of-state money or desperate attacks on my record will move the needle in her favor.”
Ayotte’s significant lead makes her an outlier in the current primary election cycle, which—despite open seats for both governor and the Second Congressional District—has been marked by a notable lack of campaign activity. While individual candidates may be showing up at community events or knocking on doors, there’s been very little campaign mail and few TV ads.
The results are in the numbers.
In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig has just 37 percent support, with Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington at 28 percent, and 31 percent of voters still unsure. Former Newmarket town councilor Jon Kiper has two percent of the vote.
In the First Congressional District GOP primary, nearly 60 percent of voters remain unsure about who they’re supporting. Manchester Board of Alderman Chairman Joe Kelly Levasseur has the backing of 15 percent of voters, but that’s enough for him to lead the field. Former Executive Councilor Russell Prescott is at 10 percent, businesswoman and veteran Hollie Noveletsky is at nine percent and fellow businessowner and veteran Chris Bright has five percent support.
Levasseur told NHJournal, “It’s nice to be in the lead,” but acknowledged “the race is wide open.”
“People start paying attention after Labor Day, so there’s a lot of work to do. I believe I am still an underdog and will keep working with that mindset.”
In the GOP’s NH-02 primary, it’s the same story: 57 percent of voters are undecided, while entrepreneur Vikram Mansharamani and libertarian-leaning Republican Lily Tang Williams are tied at 16 percent. Hanover businessman William Hamlen has six percent of the vote and former state Rep. Casey Crane is at two percent.
The Democratic NH-02 primary is a bit clearer in the current poll. Former Biden administration official Maggie Goodlander has 41 percent support while former Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern is at 31 percent and 28 percent are unsure.
Even on the issues, voters are less than unified.
The economy (26 percent) and border security (18 percent) are at the top of the list of most important issues to Granite Staters, followed by elections/voting (12 percent) and abortion (10 percent) No other topic broke double digits.
However, the poll revealed a large partisan divide on voters’ priorities. While Republicans overwhelmingly named the economy as their most pressing issue (37 percent), just 14 percent of Democrats said the same. On the border, the divide was even larger. It was the top priority of 35 percent of Republicans and just one percent of Democrats.
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