Former President Donald Trump’s campaign momentum has managed to open up another battleground state. According to a stunning new poll, New Hampshire has suddenly shifted into Trump’s column.
New Hampshire has voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in 7 of the last 8 elections, only swinging red once in the past 30 years to award George W. Bush its 4 electoral votes in 2000.
Trump has edged ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris in New Hampshire for the first time since July, according to a new poll that suggests an expanding electoral battlefield in the campaign’s final days.
The New Hampshire Journal/Praecones Analytica poll shows Trump leading Harris by a thin margin of 50.2% to 49.8%, well within the survey’s margin of error. The poll of 622 registered voters, conducted October 24-26, represents a significant shift in a state Democrats have won in seven of the last eight presidential elections.
“There’s a reason Kamala Harris has been spending money in New Hampshire. She’s on defense and knows President Trump is on the path to victory,” said Trump national campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, a New Hampshire native.
“Granite Staters will not vote for dangerously liberal Kamala Harris, whose policies as vice president have increased our energy bills and created the most unaffordable housing market in New Hampshire’s history.”
The results contrast sharply with earlier October polling. The Dartmouth Poll, conducted October 5-18, showed Harris leading by 21 points (59% to 38%). However, an Emerson College poll last week showed a much tighter race, with Harris leading by just three points.
Former Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said he sees it as part of a broader trend emerging just before election day.
“We have seen a shift, and now Minnesota, New Hampshire, Virginia, New Mexico, and potentially Nebraska [Second Congressional District] are all back in play in a way we wouldn’t have been talking about four weeks ago,” Spicer said recently.
Despite the tightening race, betting odds website Polymarket still gives Harris an 80% chance of carrying the state.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu attributed the shift to Harris’s campaign messaging.
“Harris reinforced her supporters’ worst fears when she confirmed she wouldn’t provide any change from the current administration,” Sununu said. “Trump now controls the narrative as the only alternative to America’s current situation.”