Poll: Palin Endorsement Hurts Candidates In New Hampshire

51% of New Hampshire voters overall say they're less likely to vote for a candidate endorsed by Palin to just 26% who say a Palin endorsement would make them more inclined to be supportive.

The state with the nation’s first primary does not seem very receptive to Sarah Palin:

The New Hampshire Senate numbers we’ll have coming out this week (general election Tuesday, primary Wednesday) are a great example of the double edged sword that is a Sarah Palin endorsement. In the short term Kelly Ayotte has opened a wide lead in the Republican primary. But the Palin endorsement could be hurting Ayotte’s chances of winning in the general election.

51% of New Hampshire voters overall say they’re less likely to vote for a candidate endorsed by Palin to just 26% who say a Palin endorsement would make them more inclined to be supportive. The disparity is even larger when it comes to moderate voters- 14% of them are positively swayed by a Palin nod while 65% say her support is more likely to turn them against one of her preferred candidates.

When we polled New Hampshire in April we found Ayotte’s favorability numbers with moderates on positive ground at 32/27, something very unusual for a Republican candidate. Now in the wake of the Palin endorsement that is no longer the case- 27% of moderates see Ayotte favorably while 46% see her unfavorably- a 24 point drop in her favorability spread over the last three months.

Ouch

FILED UNDER: 2010 Election, Public Opinion Polls, US Politics, , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Dave says:

    Much to Bill Binnie’s delight, I have a hunch (maybe it’s just a hope) that the Palin endorsement will take Ayotte out well before the general election.

  2. Juneau: says:

    You folks are absolutely terrified of her, aren’t you? You’d track and publicise how many times her dog didn’t greet her at the door, if you thought it would encourage the liberal faithful.