Two New Polls Put Bolduc Right On Hassan's Heels

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

Two new polls released Monday put retired Gen. Don Bolduc on Senator Maggie Hassan’s heels in the New Hampshire U.S. Senate race.

The first poll, from Insider Advantage for the pro-Trump group American Greatness, has the race essentially tied, with Hassan at 47.6 percent and Bolduc at 47.1 percent.

There is a massive gender gap in the responses with Bolduc beating Hassan among men, 57 to 38 percent, and the numbers reversed for Hassan among women.

The Insider Advantage poll also gives Gov. Chris Sununu a 54-37 percent advantage over his Democratic challenger, state Sen. Tom Sherman. (Actually, according to the published toplines, the match-up was technically between Sherman and former Gov. John H.Sununu.)

A few hours later came more good news for the GOP: A new Emerson College Polling/WHDH 7 News survey gave Hassan just a three-point lead, 48 to 45 percent. One month ago, Hassan was leading Bolduc 51 to 40 percent. Momentum appears to be moving solidly toward the GOP.

Other highlights from the Emerson Poll:

• The economy is the most important issue for 40 percent of New Hampshire voters, followed by abortion access (22 percent), and threats to democracy (15 percent.)
• President Joe Biden holds a 52 percent disapproval among New Hampshire voters, while 40 percent approve of Biden.
• Nearly half (49 percent) view both Senator Hassan and Don Bolduc favorably, while 46 percent view Bolduc unfavorably and 49 percent view Hassan unfavorably.

And Emerson also polled the governor’s race, and Sununu (Chris T., not John H.) has a solid 52-40 percent lead.

Emerson’s director of polling Spencer Kimball sees the same gender gap in his poll as in the InsiderAdvantage contest:

“Men and women split in opposite directions for US Senate candidates: men break for Bolduc 53 to 41 percent, while women break for Hassan 54 to 38 percent. In the Governor Race, Sununu leads men by 25 points and women by one percentage point.”

Kimball added, “Hassan has the majority and plurality of support of voters under 35 and voters over 65, whereas Bolduc’s support is strongest among voters between 35 and 65, with whom he holds the plurality of support.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.