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Poll finds more NH voters want Sen. Maggie Hassan replaced than reelected

Sununu job approval remains strong in latest Saint Anselm College survey

Poll finds more NH voters want Sen. Maggie Hassan replaced than reelected

Sununu job approval remains strong in latest Saint Anselm College survey

CAN ALSO FIND FULL COVERAGE ON OUR DIGITAL PLATFORMS. JENNIFER: TONIGHT, A NEW POLL FROM THE NEW HAMPSHIRE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS AT SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE SHOWS A SMALL MAJORITY OF GRANITE STATERS SUPPORT SENATE CONVICTION OF FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP. THE SPREAD IS 53% TO 45%, IDENTICAL TO PRESIDENT BIDEN’S MARGIN OF VICTORY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. ONE OTHER NOTABLE FINDING IN THIS POLL, 39% OF RESPONDENTS BELIEVE SENATOR MAGGIE HASSAN DESERVES RE-ELECTION IN 2022, WHILE 47% SAY THEY ARE LOO
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Poll finds more NH voters want Sen. Maggie Hassan replaced than reelected

Sununu job approval remains strong in latest Saint Anselm College survey

The latest poll of New Hampshire voter sentiment early in the 2022 election cycle shows that Sen. Maggie Hassan faces a challenging, but achievable task of shoring up the support of her constituents.A poll by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center, shared first Wednesday with WMUR, does not provide a hypothetical match-up between the incumbent Democrat and Gov. Chris Sununu, who has said he has not ruled out the possibility of challenging her in the 2022 midterm election.>>Read the polling memo here.But it does indicate that if Sununu decides to run for the Senate against Hassan, he would at least begin the effort in a strong position.According to the cell phone survey of 867 New Hampshire registered voters conducted Feb. 4-6, 39 percent of voters said Hassan deserves a second six-year term, while 47 percent said “it’s time to give someone else a chance.” The poll has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.Democrats want Hassan reelected by a margin of 80 percent to 7 percent, while Republicans want “someone else” by a margin of 85 percent to 5 percent. Registered undeclared voters, always the key constituency in New Hampshire elections, preferred “someone else” by a margin of 51 percent to 29 percent, with 20 percent having no opinion.But the polling memo qualifies: “This ‘soft re-election’ question understates an incumbent’s strength somewhat, and 39 percent should be seen as Hassan’s absolute floor of re-election support.”At the same time, 49 percent of those polled approved of the job Hassan is doing as a senator, while 40 percent disapproved. The results were split along party lines, with 87 percent of Democrats approving of Hassan’s job performance and 79 percent of Republicans disapproving.Registered undeclared voters were split, with 46 percent approving, 41 percent disapproving and 13 percent having no opinion. Sununu continued to receive high marks from Granite Staters for the job he is doing as governor – 72 percent approved while 27 percent disapproved. The polling memo said the strong approval reflected voters’ positive view of the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with 67 percent grading it “excellent” or “good,” and 33 percent grading it “fair” or “poor.”Sununu’s performance received approval from 87 percent of Republicans, 74 percent of undeclared voters and 56 percent of Democrats, while 42 percent of Democrats disapproved. The poll showed 55 percent of registered voters believe the state is on the “right track,” while 33 percent said it is on the “wrong track” and 12 percent had no opinion. That rating is down from October, when 61 percent said the state was on the “right track,” 34 percent said the state was on the wrong track and 5 percent had no opinion. But 55 percent of voters said the nation is on the wrong track, while 33 percent said it is on the right track. Biden approval/disapprovalPresident Joe Biden’s job performance received approval from 53 percent of those polled, while 46 percent disapproved and 2 percent had no opinion. The polling memo noted that the approval rating is almost identical to the results of the presidential election in the Granite State, in which Biden defeated former President Donald Trump by a margin of 53 percent to 45 percent.Granite Staters were divided along party lines in their view of Biden’s job performance less than a month after he took office – 97 percent of Democrats approved, while 90 percent of Republicans disapproved. Undeclared voters were split, with 49 percent approving and 49 percent disapproving.Impeachment trial, election integrityThe poll also found voters were split along party lines on the question of whether the U.S. Senate should convict Trump in the current impeachment trial.The poll found 53 percent favored conviction and 45 percent favored acquittal, with 96 percent of Democrats favoring conviction and 92 percent of Republicans favoring acquittal. Undeclared voters were divided with 49 percent favoring conviction and 45 percent favoring acquittal.Most voters were confident in the accuracy of the result of the presidential election nationally – 61 percent said they were confident in the results, while 39 percent said they were “not at all” confident. Results were divided with 98 percent of Democrats expressing confidence and 81 percent of Republicans saying they were not confident, but 62 percent of undeclared voters said they were confident in the results.Voters were even more confident in the results of the New Hampshire elections – 83 percent to 17 percent, with 99 percent of Democrats, 67 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of undeclared voters expressing confidence. Pappas, Kuster, Shaheen job ratingsThe state’s two Democratic U.S. House members continued to receive modest approval from the voters in their districts.Voters in the 1st Congressional District approved of the job U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas is doing by a margin of 43 percent to 39 percent while 18 percent had no opinion.The results were sharply divided along partisan lines, with 81 percent of Democrats approving of his job performance and 75 percent of Republicans disapproving, while undeclared voters were split with 39 percent approving and 38 percent disapproving.Pappas won a second term by a 5 percentage point margin last year and has already filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission to run for a third term in 2022.Second District voters were similarly split in their rating of U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster’s job performance. Overall, 46 percent approved of her job performance while 40 percent disapproved and 14 percent had no opinion.She received approval from 89 percent of her fellow Democrats and disapproval from 75 percent of Republicans --17 percent of Republicans had no opinion.Undeclared voters were divided on Kuster, with 38 percent approving of her job performance and 44 percent disapproving, while 18 percent had no opinion.Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who won reelection last year by a 15 percentage point margin, is not up for reelection until 2026, if she chooses at that point to run. Her job approval/disapproval rating is the strongest among the members of the congressional delegation.The poll found 54 percent of Granite Staters approve of her job performance, while 38 percent disapprove – close to her 56 percent-to-39 percent rating in October.She has the approval of 92 percent of Democrats, while 78 percent of Republicans disapprove, although 17 percent of Republicans approve of the job she is doing. Undeclared registered voters approve of her job performance by a margin of 50 percent to 37 percent, with 13 percent having no opinion.Social media obligationsVoters were also asked if social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook should allow all content or if they have an obligation to remove content they consider harmful. The results were split with 45 percent saying all speech should be allowed and 47 percent saying content the platforms consider harmful should be removed.

The latest poll of New Hampshire voter sentiment early in the 2022 election cycle shows that Sen. Maggie Hassan faces a challenging, but achievable task of shoring up the support of her constituents.

A poll by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center, shared first Wednesday with WMUR, does not provide a hypothetical match-up between the incumbent Democrat and Gov. Chris Sununu, who has said he has not ruled out the possibility of challenging her in the 2022 midterm election.

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>>Read the polling memo here.

But it does indicate that if Sununu decides to run for the Senate against Hassan, he would at least begin the effort in a strong position.

According to the cell phone survey of 867 New Hampshire registered voters conducted Feb. 4-6, 39 percent of voters said Hassan deserves a second six-year term, while 47 percent said “it’s time to give someone else a chance.” The poll has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

Democrats want Hassan reelected by a margin of 80 percent to 7 percent, while Republicans want “someone else” by a margin of 85 percent to 5 percent.

Registered undeclared voters, always the key constituency in New Hampshire elections, preferred “someone else” by a margin of 51 percent to 29 percent, with 20 percent having no opinion.

But the polling memo qualifies: “This ‘soft re-election’ question understates an incumbent’s strength somewhat, and 39 percent should be seen as Hassan’s absolute floor of re-election support.”

At the same time, 49 percent of those polled approved of the job Hassan is doing as a senator, while 40 percent disapproved. The results were split along party lines, with 87 percent of Democrats approving of Hassan’s job performance and 79 percent of Republicans disapproving.

Registered undeclared voters were split, with 46 percent approving, 41 percent disapproving and 13 percent having no opinion.

Sununu continued to receive high marks from Granite Staters for the job he is doing as governor – 72 percent approved while 27 percent disapproved.

The polling memo said the strong approval reflected voters’ positive view of the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with 67 percent grading it “excellent” or “good,” and 33 percent grading it “fair” or “poor.”

Sununu’s performance received approval from 87 percent of Republicans, 74 percent of undeclared voters and 56 percent of Democrats, while 42 percent of Democrats disapproved.

The poll showed 55 percent of registered voters believe the state is on the “right track,” while 33 percent said it is on the “wrong track” and 12 percent had no opinion. That rating is down from October, when 61 percent said the state was on the “right track,” 34 percent said the state was on the wrong track and 5 percent had no opinion.

But 55 percent of voters said the nation is on the wrong track, while 33 percent said it is on the right track.

Biden approval/disapproval

President Joe Biden’s job performance received approval from 53 percent of those polled, while 46 percent disapproved and 2 percent had no opinion. The polling memo noted that the approval rating is almost identical to the results of the presidential election in the Granite State, in which Biden defeated former President Donald Trump by a margin of 53 percent to 45 percent.

Granite Staters were divided along party lines in their view of Biden’s job performance less than a month after he took office – 97 percent of Democrats approved, while 90 percent of Republicans disapproved. Undeclared voters were split, with 49 percent approving and 49 percent disapproving.

Impeachment trial, election integrity

The poll also found voters were split along party lines on the question of whether the U.S. Senate should convict Trump in the current impeachment trial.

The poll found 53 percent favored conviction and 45 percent favored acquittal, with 96 percent of Democrats favoring conviction and 92 percent of Republicans favoring acquittal. Undeclared voters were divided with 49 percent favoring conviction and 45 percent favoring acquittal.

Most voters were confident in the accuracy of the result of the presidential election nationally – 61 percent said they were confident in the results, while 39 percent said they were “not at all” confident. Results were divided with 98 percent of Democrats expressing confidence and 81 percent of Republicans saying they were not confident, but 62 percent of undeclared voters said they were confident in the results.

Voters were even more confident in the results of the New Hampshire elections – 83 percent to 17 percent, with 99 percent of Democrats, 67 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of undeclared voters expressing confidence.

Pappas, Kuster, Shaheen job ratings

The state’s two Democratic U.S. House members continued to receive modest approval from the voters in their districts.

Voters in the 1st Congressional District approved of the job U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas is doing by a margin of 43 percent to 39 percent while 18 percent had no opinion.

The results were sharply divided along partisan lines, with 81 percent of Democrats approving of his job performance and 75 percent of Republicans disapproving, while undeclared voters were split with 39 percent approving and 38 percent disapproving.

Pappas won a second term by a 5 percentage point margin last year and has already filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission to run for a third term in 2022.

Second District voters were similarly split in their rating of U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster’s job performance.

Overall, 46 percent approved of her job performance while 40 percent disapproved and 14 percent had no opinion.

She received approval from 89 percent of her fellow Democrats and disapproval from 75 percent of Republicans --17 percent of Republicans had no opinion.

Undeclared voters were divided on Kuster, with 38 percent approving of her job performance and 44 percent disapproving, while 18 percent had no opinion.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who won reelection last year by a 15 percentage point margin, is not up for reelection until 2026, if she chooses at that point to run. Her job approval/disapproval rating is the strongest among the members of the congressional delegation.

The poll found 54 percent of Granite Staters approve of her job performance, while 38 percent disapprove – close to her 56 percent-to-39 percent rating in October.

She has the approval of 92 percent of Democrats, while 78 percent of Republicans disapprove, although 17 percent of Republicans approve of the job she is doing. Undeclared registered voters approve of her job performance by a margin of 50 percent to 37 percent, with 13 percent having no opinion.

Social media obligations

Voters were also asked if social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook should allow all content or if they have an obligation to remove content they consider harmful. The results were split with 45 percent saying all speech should be allowed and 47 percent saying content the platforms consider harmful should be removed.