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Republican NH Senate Candidate Endorsed By Palin Flagging Among Moderates

07/27/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Is the Palin Endorsement the Kiss Of Death for a candidate? Probably not, but it has not been a huge help to many of the candidates that she has endorsed of late. In New Hampshire, Kelly Ayotte was the front runner in her bid to replace Senator Judd Gregg. New polling from the polling firm PPP shows that Ayotte, who once had a comfortable lead, now has seen her lead slip. According to the polling, 51% of voters in New Hampshire say that they are less likely to vote for someone backed by Palin, and only 26% said that they were more likely to support someone over her endorsement.

Among Moderates, those numbers are higher with 65% of New Hampshirites saying that they would not vote for someone backed by Palin, and 14% who said that they would. This is bad news for Ayotte because the state is 47% moderates.

It is also problematic since, apparently, the numbers are showing that Ayotte’s lead against Representative Paul Hodes has fallen to the point where it is it is well within the margin of error.
Ayotte leads Hodes 45 to 42, which is very close, but very few New Hampshirites actually have an opinion on her, so this may change once the primary is completed.

Ayotte’s favorability has dropped rather a lot now. She was at 32 favorable, 27 unfavorable, but she is now at 36 and 39 respectively. The endorsement from Palin has certainly helped Ayotte with the Republican base, but it may end up sinking her completely in the general election.

Ayotte resigned as New Hampshire’s attorney general after Governor John Lynch signed a set of bills extending full marriage benefits to same-sex couples. She is opposed to same-sex marriage.

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