Staff Reports
The political landscape in New Hampshire is shaking up in a way that even the most casual observer can’t ignore. Once considered safely in Vice President Kamala Harris’s column, recent polling indicates that former President Donald Trump is not just getting his name back in lights but actually leading the charge. According to a poll from New Hampshire Journal and Praecones Analytica, Trump is ahead of Harris with a narrow margin of 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent. While the lead is small enough to fit inside a campaign sign’s font size, it still signals a noteworthy shift in voter sentiment in the Granite State.
A survey of 622 registered voters conducted between October 24 and 26 lays the groundwork for this political revelation. It’s an interesting turn of events, particularly as Trump’s upward trend comes amidst conversations surrounding core issues, including the controversy over biological men competing in women’s sports. New Hampshire has recently taken a stand, passing legislation to safeguard women’s sports—a decision that appears to resonate with voters. When asked about supporting candidates who favor allowing men to compete against women, 54 percent of respondents indicated they would be less likely to vote for such candidates. Clearly, voters have been paying attention to the “transgender athlete” saga more than some politicians would care to admit.
Nolte: Battlefield Expands as Trump Takes Lead in New Hampshire Pollhttps://t.co/6U9fRbaLoL
— Goober Biden (@gooberbiden) October 29, 2024
Adding some spice to the New Hampshire political stew, the same poll shows a Republican senator, Kelly Ayotte, leading Democrat Joyce Craig in the state’s gubernatorial race. As Trump finds his footing, the prospect of Republican success in New Hampshire appears not just feasible, but downright probable. In fact, voters’ growing awareness of issues can hardly be overlooked. Often, it seems, Democrats struggle to understand what really matters to the populace, leading to these crucial votes slipping away like a liberal college student trying to avoid a $5 latte.
The New Hampshire Journal’s Michael Graham even underwent the due diligence of ensuring the poll wasn’t a fluke by redoing a portion of its sample. The results stood firm, giving credence to a genuine Republican resurgence in a state that has historically leaned toward the left. This fresh polling data conjures memories of 2016, where Trump narrowly lost New Hampshire by a mere third of a point. Those numbers indicate not just the potential for a win but a call to action for Republican strategists to consider expanding their campaign efforts into neighboring states like Virginia, New Mexico, and Minnesota.
There’s no denying that both history and current polling present challenges for Republicans in those battlegrounds. Trump trails in several national averages, yet the momentum from New Hampshire’s latest poll hints at a broader appeal. After all, it was George W. Bush who was the last Republican to win both New Hampshire and New Mexico, all the way back in 2004, while Richard Nixon hasn’t been seen in Minnesota since 1972. Clearly, the winds may be shifting, and if Trump continues to gain traction, Democrats could find themselves ringing that familiar election night panic bell once again.
More importantly, this reawakening in New Hampshire emphasizes an overarching sentiment: voters are increasingly tuning out the radical left’s agenda and tuning in to common-sense solutions that resonate with middle America. Shifting demographics, evolving opinions on gender and athletics, and the overall fatigue with liberal policies may well provide the perfect storm for Trump’s 2024 campaign. As polling numbers demonstrate, dogged determination, coupled with a realization of the issues that matter most to everyday Americans, could indeed be a recipe for victory in the upcoming election.
