Maggie Hassan running neck-and-neck with Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire Senate race
This is not a good year to be a Republican up for re-election. New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte is is finding that out—and it couldn't happen to a more deserving Republican incumbent.
The latest WMUR Granite State Poll, conducted April 7-17, shows Republican Ayotte leading Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan 43 percent to 42 percent, with 5 percent favoring someone else and 10 undecided. That’s well within the poll’s 3.9 percent margin of error, resulting in a toss-up.Independents, by far the largest segment of the polling sample, strongly back Ayotte, 57 percent to 21 percent. […]
In the poll, Ayotte is viewed favorably by 41 percent of Granite State adults and unfavorably by 38 percent. By comparison, a February WMUR Granite State poll showed 47 percent viewing her favorably and 31 percent viewing her unfavorably, while in October 2015, Ayotte was viewed favorably by 47 percent and unfavorably by 28 percent.
The blockade of President Obama's Supreme Court nominee is "one possible reason for Ayotte's declining popularity," says the survey center. Bolstering that, the poll finds that 60 percent of the state's voters—including 55 percent of independents— want to see hearings for Judge Merrick Garland, while just 34 percent support the blockade.
What's particularly bad in combination with the low favorability rating is that a whopping 68 percent of the voters are undecided right now. That's pretty amazing for an incumbent senator, giving Hassan (one of Daily Kos's endorsees!) a definite opening. It means New Hampshire voters are perfectly willing to consider taking her on for a statewide seat again.