New Hampshire voters appear ready for a rematch.
Right now they’re choosing President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump as their primary picks.
“This poll – it sets the bar as Trump as the presumptive Republican nominee. Now the question is going to be can somebody start knocking him down over the next 7-8 months,” Director of Emerson College Polling, Spencer Kimball said.
Our exclusive 7News Emerson College poll shows 58% of Republican primary voters in the Granite State favor Trump.
Trump’s closest competitor Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is still far behind with just 17%.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu gets 7%, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley 6% and former Vice President Mike Pence 4%.
“What DeSantis is going to have to do is visit New Hampshire. He’s trying to get that Trump vote and that’s a difficult task,” Emerson College Director of Polling, Spencer Kimball said.
For the Democrats, President Biden’s biggest competitor is himself. In our poll only 38 % of likely New Hampshire voters approve of the job he’s doing. 50% disapprove.
And when we asked Democratic primary voters if they want him or someone else as their candidate in 2024 only 44% said Biden. 55% said someone else.
“They’re looking at other people,” Kimball said.
They’re looking – but Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire haven’t found that person.
The president pulls 29% of primary votes in our poll compared to 17% for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg gets 14%, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren gets 11% and Vice President Kamala Harris gets 10%.
“Despite his low approval they would still rather him than one of those other alternatives.
As Mayor White would always say in Boston, don’t judge me against the Almighty, judge me against the alternative,” Kimball said.
And there is other encouraging news for President Biden.
According to our poll, in a general election match up with Trump the president wins 42% to 38%.
If DeSantis were the challenger – the president wins again by almost the same margin: 42% to 37%.
“When you put him against DeSantis or Trump you can see despite his low approval they would still rather him than one of those alternatives,” Kimball said.
But age could be a problem for the president.
If re-elected he’ll be 82 to start his second term. 57% of New Hampshire voters say that would be an obstacle to him being an effective president.
If Donald Trump makes it back to the White House he will be 78 to start his term. Only 36% of voters in our poll see that as a problem.
“Despite him leading in these polls against Trump and DeSantis that’s a number that raises an eyebrow. Because that’s a majority of voters that now think that his age will become an obstacle,” Kimball said.
The national Democratic party is moving to make South Carolina the first primary in the nation. A title New Hampshire has proudly held for decades.
Three out of 4 voters say it’s important to keep their primary first.
The voters that felt most strongly about are the independent voters that typically swing the Presidential race in New Hampshire.
To read the entire New Hampshire Poll, click below-
https://emersoncollegepolling.com/blog/
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