While state Senate Democrats were unanimously voting against allowing schools to have separate locker rooms and restrooms for biological females and males on Wednesday, a new poll showed 74 percent of Granite Staters support the idea.
That’s just one of several political issues New Hampshire voters say Democrats are getting wrong, the poll shows.
The NHJournal/Praecones Analytica survey of 606 registered voters was taken on May 20-21. Among the findings:
A solid majority of Granite Staters (59 percent) say schools should be allowed to have separate sports teams for biological females and biological males, while just 18 percent disagree. A bill protecting girls-only sports from biological males in middle and high school passed the New Hampshire legislature over the objection of virtually every Democrat and is now headed to Gov. Chris Sununu’s desk.
Sen. Donovan Fenton (D-Keene) was particularly adamant in opposing the legislation, falsely suggesting during the Senate debate that the law would require “male coaches to inspect the genitals” of girls hoping to compete on a school sports team.
“Can parents be present? Or will administrators be going to students directly and asking them in private to pull down their pants?” Fenton asked.
Nearly three in four voters (74 percent) say schools should be allowed to have separate locker rooms and restrooms for biological females and biological males. Just 10 percent say no.
“So 100 percent of Senate Democrats are representing just 10 percent of the people,” said Ian Huyett with Cornerstone Action.
Democrats have also unanimously opposed a ban on sanctuary cities in New Hampshire, despite 56 percent of Granite Staters opposed to their city or town becoming a sanctuary city. Just 19 percent support it. A bill banning sanctuary cities passed the Senate in a party-line vote, but Democrats killed it in the House.
And if Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington is counting on her CLEAN energy economy plan picking up votes, she may need to recalculate. Her plan calls for a zero-carbon New Hampshire by 2040, which would mean following California’s example and banning the sale of gas-powered cars.
More than 80 percent of Granite Staters surveyed said no to that idea. Just nine percent support it.
This split between elected Democrats and the electorate may explain why, in a state Joe Biden carried easily in 2020 and which has an all-Democrat federal delegation, voters are split on which party they want in power.
Asked which party they want running the federal government in Washington, D.C., Granite Staters are evenly divided at 42 percent Republican and Democrat.
Asked who they want running the state government in Concord, voters give Republicans a narrow 42-39 percent edge.
“Republicans have proven over the last eight years that we deliver positive results for the people of New Hampshire,” said state GOP chairman Chris Ager. “When Democrats had an ounce of power, they promoted ultra-left wing policies that would destroy the New Hampshire Advantage. The people know that we need to continue the Sununu legacy.”
