Pence to visit New Hampshire in support of GOP candidates

Former Vice President Mike Pence will make another trip to New Hampshire in the coming weeks as part of an event to build support for Republican candidates on the ballot in November’s midterm elections.

Pence will travel to the Granite State on Sept. 14, one day after the state’s primary elections. He is expected to attend a fundraiser that day in what a source described as a “unity event” for GOP candidates who will be on the ballot in November.

Republicans are hoping to flip two congressional seats and a Senate seat in New Hampshire.

Primary voters will decide on Sept. 13 which candidate will take on Sen. Maggie Hassan (D). Retired Army Gen. Don Bolduc holds a wide lead in the GOP primary, according to a poll released this week.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the seat as “lean Democrat,” with Hassan considered one of the more vulnerable Democrats up for reelection.

Republicans in the state are also hoping to unseat Reps. Chris Pappas (D) and Ann Kuster (D).

The trip next month will mark the latest of several visits Pence has made to New Hampshire, which holds the first-in-the-nation primary during the presidential cycle. The former vice president has made multiple trips to the state, including as recently as this month. He has also visited Iowa and South Carolina, two other early voting states, multiple times.

Pence is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in the 2024 GOP primary. A USA Today-Ipsos poll conducted Aug. 18-22 found that 69 percent of Republican voters view Pence favorably, second in the poll among Republicans only to former President Trump, whose favorability among GOP voters is 81 percent. The poll found Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), another potential 2024 candidate, with a 68 percent favorability among Republican voters.