The New Hampshire Republican Senate primary tomorrow is getting even tighter, with a new PPP poll showing Tea Party-backed Ovide LaMontagne only trailing frontrunner (and establishment pick) Kelly Ayotte by seven points.
LaMontagne has gained serious ground since the last PPP poll in July, when he was trailing Ayotte by a whopping 39 points.
The latest numbers show Ayotte polling at 37%, while LaMontagne has the second-highest numbers in the multi-candidate field, at 30%. Last time, Ayotte was killing LaMontagne 47%-8%.
As we’ve reported, Ayotte has gotten into some trouble lately, between party in-fighting and some concerns about her conservative record.
LaMontagne, on the other hand, has seen endorsements by the conservative paper the Union Leader , and more recently, by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC).
DeMint tweetedhis endorsement of LaMontagne on Friday:
I’m proud to endorse Ovide Lamontagne for US Senate in New Hampshire. He’s a proven conservative. #nhsen
Please show your support for @OvideIn2010 here: http://ovide2010.com/ #nhsen
In the general election match-up, the TPM Poll Average finds Ayotte leading Dem Rep. Paul Hodes 48.2%-38% — though Public Policy Polling and the University of New Hampshire show the race tightening. And Hodes leads Lamontagne in the TPM Poll Average, 41.6%-38.8%.
