Henniker, NH- While the love affair between New Hampshire Democrats and Hillary Clinton shows no sign of cooling down, the GOP field in the 2016 campaign for President is filled with plenty of choices and no clear leader. Given the recent fundraising efforts of former Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, our most recent poll reserved a slot for the former Massachusetts Governor.
And what do you know? Among 346 likely republican NH voters, Romney posted a narrow lead in a crowded field of GOP hopefuls. Romney grabs 22 percent support, followed by Senator Rand Paul at 16 percent and percent, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal received 3 percent, and Rick Santorum received 2 percent. Fifteen percent of respondents said they were unsure. The margin of error in this poll is 5.25 percent
“This race is wide open and for now, it looks like the only thing that really shakes up the race is the presence of Mitt Romney as an option for voters,” said Dr. Ben Tafoya, director of the New England College (NEC) poll. “Chris Christie’s political troubles in his home state have not affected his polling numbers. But we have seen early visits from some of these names, such as Bobby Jindal, and that also has had no effect on the polls. It’s early and voters are still gravitating to the most familiar names in the race.”
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton dominates. Among 318 likely NH Democratic primary voters, Secretary Clinton receives 60 percent support, followed by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren at 13 percent, Vice
President Joe Biden with 4 percent, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo at 3 percent, and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley with 1 percent. Nineteen percent of respondents say they are unsure. The margin of error is 5.52 percent.
“The only truly notable shift in the numbers is the rise in support for Elizabeth Warren and a drop in support for Vice President Biden,” said Dr. Wayne Lesperance, director of the Center of Civic Engagement at NEC. “This poll does not bode well for the vice president. Despite his daily connection to President Obama and this White House, it is not translating into any measureable democratic party support.”
A final footnote about the democrat’s primary poll: Hillary Clinton enjoys nearly identical support among both men and women; there is virtually no gender gap in this poll. Sixty-one percent of women support the former
Secretary of State and 58 percent of men support her.
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