Granite State Times

Months after a contentious presidential election that cast a spotlight on the partisan divide in the nation, New Hampshire voters are fluid in their support for Democrats, according to a Saint Anselm College Survey Center (SACSC) poll. 

The state’s Democratic senators have dropped in the poll. Senior Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s approval stands at 47% in the most recent poll, down 4% from March. In a potential warning sign, Junior Sen. Maggie Hassan also is down four points to 43% approval as she prepares for a potential race against popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, whose approval rating was at 68% in the recent SACSC poll, though Sununu has yet to throw his hat into the ring. 

“I can’t wait to stack up Sen. Hassan’s record against whomever it is that comes out of this Republican primary,” Aaron Jacobs, Hassan’s campaign manager, told the Concord Monitor. 

U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan | Wikimedia Commons

When respondents were asked whether they support Democrats or Republicans in congressional races, the SACSC poll found that the generic congressional ballot poll is virtually a dead heat, at 44% Democratic and 43% Republican.

The SACSC poll found that U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster (D) had a 44% job approval rating, while U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas’ (R) approval rating stood at 42%. Both had approval ratings that were higher than disapproval, according to the poll, though Pappas performed better than the generic ballot.  

“His approval (42%) is even with generic Democratic ballot strength, but his disapproval (39%) is four points under generic Republican ballot strength,” according to the SACSC poll. “This is reflected in his approval durability among some demographics.”

The poll also has both good and bad news for President Joe Biden, with New Hampshire voters supporting his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but giving him mixed reviews on other issues.

The SACSC poll found that 51% of respondents said Biden was doing an excellent or good job in handling the pandemic. In other areas, he was viewed as fair or poor by respondents, including his handling of environmental issues (55%), race (57%), national security  (57%) and the economy (58%). The state was evenly divided on the president’s overall job performance, with 49% approving and 49% disapproving.

A national Gallop poll released recently found that Biden enjoyed an overall approval rating of 56%, according to U.S. News & World Report, outpacing his current performance in the SACSC poll, which found the president’s approval had slipped slightly from a poll earlier this year. 

“In SACSC’s February poll, Biden’s job approval (53% to 45%) was identical to his margin of victory in New Hampshire,” according the SACSC poll.  

The Saint Anselm poll also delved into key demographic shifts, noting that the Democratic approval rating dipped five points among women and three points among men, with similar drops among voters age 55 and older (5%) and voters ages 18 to 54 (3%). Democrats also took a hit among registered Democratic voters (a 4% drop) and undeclared voters (4%), according to the SACSC poll. 

While Sununu hasn’t declared whether he will seek re-election as governor, run in the Republican primary for a chance to face off against Hassan or leave politics for the private sector, the SACSC poll shows he remains popular in the Granite State. According to the poll, his approval improved by 1% in the June survey, with only 30% of respondents disapproving of his job performance. Moreover, 42% of voters believe New Hampshire is on the right track, according to the poll.  

The Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll included surveys of 921 registered voters in the state from June 9 to 11. According to SACSC, the poll was conducted among cell phone users randomly selected from a sample of registered voters. The survey has an overall margin of error of 3.2% with a confidence interval of 95%.