Senate seat, Democrat Chris Pappas has reversed a recent polling trend in his battle against Republican John E. Sununu, a new survey from the University of New Hampshire shows on Thursday. Representative Pappas now leads 50 percent to Sununu's 42 percent, after the Republican was found ahead with the pollster in August.
Midterm elections are commonly viewed as a test of the political environment facing the party in power, and the president's party has historically lost seats during midterm elections. Republicans currently hold a narrow majority in both the House and Senate. Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen is set to retire, opening the seat for November's general election.
The Cook Political Report rates the race as a toss-up. Former Vice President Kamala Harris won New Hampshire in the 2024 presidential election over President Donald Trump by under 3 percent. The state has notably not elected a Republican senator in over 15 years.
Sununu represented the Granite State in the Senate from 2003 to 2009. Newsweek reached out to Pappas and Sununu's campaigns via email on Thursday for comment on the new poll. According to the new poll, 50 percent would pick Pappas, 42 percent would pick Sununu, 2 percent would pick Constitution Party candidate Edmond Laplante, 2 percent would write in another candidate and 4 percent are undecided.
Pappas' favorability rating in the new poll is 33 percent compared to a 47 percent unfavorable rating, 17 percent are neutral and 3 percent do not know enough to say either way. Sununu's favorability rating is 34 percent versus a 49 percent unfavorable rating, while 13 percent are neutral and 4 percent don't know enough to say either way. The University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll was conducted from September 17 to September 21 among 1,418 likely general election voters, with a margin of error of 2.6 percent.
In an August survey from the pollster, Sununu was up 45 percent compared to 43 percent for Pappas, 5 percent would have voted for another candidate and 7 percent were undecided. The poll was conducted from August 20 to August 24 among 1,878 likely general election voters, with a margin of error of 2.3 percent. The results for this survey were within the margin of error, making it a statistical tie.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
