Ayotte, Hassan tied in new poll

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and likely Democratic opponent Gov. Maggie Hassan are tied in New Hampshire’s high-profile Senate race, a new poll found on Monday.

The liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling’s survey found that Ayotte and Hassan each have 42 percent support, with 16 percent undecided. That’s little change from October’s PPP poll, which showed Hassan with a 44 percent to 43 percent lead over Ayotte.

The Senate seat will be one of the more competitive races as Democrats seek to recapture the majority. Democrats only need to flip five seats for outright control of the body.

{mosads}Hassan’s approval rating has fallen from 50 percent in October to 43 percent in November, a drop found mainly among Democratic-leaning voters. Fourty percent of those polled dispprove of her job performance.

This poll comes after Hassan split from the majority of her base and became the only Democratic governor to support halting Syrian refugees from resettling in the United States.

“Maggie Hassan definitely seems to have antagonized some of her base with her position on refugees,” said Public Policy Polling President Dean Debnam said in a release. “But it’s not affecting the overall shape of the Senate race all that much.”

Ayotte, on the other hand, has a 40 percent approval rating, with 42 percent disapproving of her job performance, the same as in October.

The poll also found that an overwhelming majority of New Hampshire voters support background checks on all gun purchases, 89 percent to 8 percent, and that voters support an assault weapons ban, 49 percent to 41 percent.

“Background checks continue to be an issue where Kelly Ayotte is well out of line with public opinion in New Hampshire,” Debnam said. “Even among Republicans more than 80% of voters disagree with her.”

The poll was conducted from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 and surveyed 458 Democratic primary voters and 454 Republican primary voters via landlines and Internet. The margin of error for both parties is 4.6 percentage points.

A RealClearPolitics average of New Hampshire polls shows Ayotte leading Hassan 46.8 percent to 43 percent.

Senate Democrats and Republicans are in a heated battle over the majority in the upcoming election. Democrats will need to net five Senate seats in order to regain majority in the upper chamber. In the 2016 cycle, Democrats will have to defend 10 seats compared to Republicans who need to defend 24.