With a unified Republican Party behind her and facing a dispirited Democratic opposition, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte remains on pace to beat Rep. Paul Hodes to succeed the retiring Republican Senator Judd Gregg. Rasmussen’s latest poll in New Hampshire shows Ayotte with majority support from likely voters and up seven over Hodes:
Republican Kelly Ayotte for the third month in a row earns more than 50% of the vote against Democratic Congressman Paul Hodes in New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate race.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in New Hampshire shows Ayotte with 51% support to Hodes’ 44%, unchanged from amonth ago. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and two percent (2%) are undecided.
Ayotte has held a near-majority of support all the way back to February. This, however, has been Hodes’ high-water mark, as the gap seems to be solidifying in the final three weeks. Hodes hasn’t made a dent in Ayotte’s lead, and that may spell danger not just for Democrats hoping to pick up an open Republican seat in the Senate, but also defending two House seats. Hodes’ old district of NH-02 pits Republican Charlie Bass against Ann McLane Kuster, where the D+3 advantage probably won’t hold in this wave. The 1st CD has Carol Shea-Porter defending her incumbency against Frank Guinta in the even-up district.
It’s still a tight enough race for Republicans to sweat, at least a little bit. Ayotte only edges Hodes with independents, 48/42. Ayotte’s favorables are strong, 58/37, while Hodes treads water at 47/47. Repeal of ObamaCare will be the strongest issue for Ayotte, with 52% supporting repeal. Granite State voters are very negative about the economy, but more say that Porkulus helped (44%) than hurt (28%), with 24% saying it had no impact at all.
Ayotte certainly has been helped by the team play of Ovide Lamontaigne, who lost in the GOP primary, a show of unity from which other Republicans could learn.
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