Retired general holds wide lead in New Hampshire GOP Senate primary race: poll

Retired Army Gen. Don Bolduc holds a wide lead among other Republican challengers in New Hampshire’s GOP Senate primary, according to a new poll out on Tuesday.

A University of New Hampshire Survey Center Granite State Poll found that among likely Republican primary voters in the state, 43 percent of those surveyed would back Bolduc if the GOP primary for the New Hampshire Senate seat was held today. New Hampshire state Senate President Chuck Morse got the second highest percentage of support, at 22 percent.

Businessmen Vikram Mansharamani and Bruce Fenton and former Londonderry Town Manager Kevin Smith all received less than 10 percent support. A separate 20 percent of respondents said they did not know who they would support or were undecided. 

Roughly equal percentages of those polled said that either an endorsement from Gov. Chris Sununu (R) — 35 percent — or former President Trump — 36 percent — would make them more likely to vote for their endorsed candidate. 

The development comes ahead of the state’s primary, scheduled for Sept. 13. Neither Trump or Sununu have weighed in on the race, which will determine who will take on Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) in November. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the seat as “lean Democrat,” with Hassan considered one of the more vulnerable Democrats up for reelection.

A poll conducted by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center and New Hampshire Institute of Politics and released earlier this month also showed Bolduc leading his GOP challengers, with the retired general receiving 32 percent support among Republican voters surveyed compared to 16 percent for Morse, who was in second place. 

The University of New Hampshire Granite State Poll was conducted between Aug. 25 and Aug. 29, with 1,993 total respondents polled. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points. There were 892 likely Republican primary voters polled in the sample, and the margin of error for those respondents is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.