New Hampshire Senate race tightening

Republican Scott Brown is closing in on Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in a new independent survey, the latest to show a rapidly tightening race in the Granite State.

{mosads}The CNN/ORC poll gives Shaheen 49 percent support to Brown’s 47 percent support among likely voters. The vast majority, 86 percent, say they have their minds made up.

That’s largely unchanged from the last CNN/ORC poll of the race, in early September, which found the two tied at 48 percent support each.

Both have seen the portion of New Hampshirites who view them negatively rise since September, but only slightly. But while Brown’s net favorability remained static at minus-2, Shaheen’s has declined somewhat, down from plus-12 in September to plus-7 in the latest poll.

It’s the fourth survey out this week to peg the race within the margin of error, a tighter battle than the candidates have seen all cycle. 

But Democrats insist they’re still confident in Shaheen’s chances. New Hampshire Democratic Party spokeswoman Julie McClain hailed the polls as evidence that Shaheen holds a “steady lead.”

“In all the polling, Scott Brown was viewed negatively compared to Shaheen, further proving that voters here in New Hampshire don’t trust him and are still questioning his motives to move here from Massachusetts,” she said.

The CNN/ORC poll was conducted among 645 likely voters with live interviews via landline and cellphone, and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.