BOSTON (WHDH) - For months we’ve been bombarded with big political news. From impeachment, the debates, and all the candidates crisscrossing the country.
Now, our exclusive 7NEWS Emerson College poll shows what impact all that is having in New Hampshire.
Bay State U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden have been the Democratic frontrunners in New Hampshire — but the winds of political change are blowing and Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Pete Buttigieg now have the breeze at their backs.
Our college poll shows Sanders has taken over the lead with 26 percent of New Hampshire’s Democratic primary voters, followed closely by Buttigieg at 22 percent.
Biden and Warren now trail, both tied at 14 percent.
Emerson College Polling Director Spencer Kimball called the results “a game-changing poll in the Democratic primary.”
Our poll establishes a clear second tier of candidates led by Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard at 6 percent, entrepreneur Andrew Yang at 5 percent, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris at 4 percent, and billionaire Tom Steyer at 3 percent.
All of the other candidates have 2 percent or less.
“I think the voters took a look at Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden and weren’t satisfied so now they’re looking at Pete Buttigieg, and Bernie Sanders,” Kimball said. ” Pete Buttigieg is a fresh face that they’re learning more about, Bernie Sanders is somebody that they know about, somebody they can rely on, and that’s probably why you see that flip.”
On the Republican side, our poll shows President Trump’s popularity is not wilting in the winds of impeachment.
The president’s approval among New Hampshire voters sits at 42 percent — which represents a slight bump up for him.
One possible reason is that only 4 percent of Granite State voters consider impeachment the most important issue.
“It’s a weird situation, in that we continue to see over the last 4 years, that every time we think we see something that will drag him down, it actually brings him in the other direction,” Kimball said.
Our poll was conducted days after former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick threw his hat into the race.
He registered a zero.
“New Hampshire might already have their fill of Vermont, Massachusetts candidates with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, very tough to make inroads in a state that has taken the New England flavor with them,” Kimball said.
And though there has been a big change for top democrats — there could be more big changes ahead.
More than half say they could still change their minds and vote for someone else.
So stay tuned, because we’ll keep working with Emerson College to see whether the political winds change again.
For the full results of the 7News/Emerson College poll, click here.
More from Emerson polling can be found here.
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