GOP voters in New Hampshire back Trump

The majority of New Hampshire Republicans plan to back President Trump in the 2020 primary in the state, according to a Monmouth University poll released Monday.

At least 70 percent of likely Republican presidential primary voters polled said they will be voting for Trump.

{mosads}A little over half, 55 percent, of Republican respondents said Trump should be able to run unopposed for his renomination in 2020.

Just 34 percent would like to see him face a primary challenge, including 25 percent who don’t have a candidate in mind.

Among those challengers suggested by 9 percent of respondents who did have a challenger in mind were former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld (R) and Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah).

Weld is the only Republican to announce a challenge to Trump for the nomination so far. Kasich and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) have also been floated as potential candidates. 

“It’s a sign of how much Trump has won over the hearts and minds of the Republican base that likely primary voters do not actually want to see a contested primary,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said.

Trump won New Hampshire in the 2016 primary with 35 percent of the vote. He would nearly double that support today if likely GOP voters could go back in time and recast their ballots, according to Monday’s poll.

“Most New Hampshire Republicans did not support Trump in the 2016 primary, but there seems to be few regrets now that he is in office,” said Murray.

Monmouth surveyed 427 New Hampshire voters who are likely to vote in the Republican presidential primary between May 2-7. The margin of error for the sample is 4.8 percentage points.

Any challenger to Trump would likely face long odds in a primary bid. The Republican National Committee has already voted to express its “undivided support” for Trump as its 2020 nominee, and Trump’s reelection campaign has staffed up with party insiders to line up its delegate strategy well ahead of the party’s nominating convention.