Some new poll numbers for the New Hampshire Senate race from Public Policy Polling (D), conducted over the weekend before yesterday’s primary, show Republican former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte starting the general election with a small lead over Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes.
The numbers: Ayotte 47%, Hodes 43%. The survey of likely voters has a ±2.2% margin of error. In the previous PPP survey from mid-July — which used a more permissive and Dem-friendly registered voter screen – Ayotte led Hodes by a similar 45%-42% margin. The TPM Poll Average gives Ayotte a lead of 48.0%-40.0%.
Interestingly, the poll also shows that Ayotte’s opponent that she very narrowly defeated in the Republican primary, Ovide Lamontagne, would not have had any significant difference in electability against Hodes. In this survey, Lamontagne leads Hodes by 47%-44%.
