Harris tops Trump by 6 points in New Hampshire polling

Vice President Harris leads former President Trump by 6 points in New Hampshire ahead of their expected November match-up, two separate surveys found.

According to a poll released Thursday by the University of New Hampshire’s Survey Center, Harris, who announced her candidacy just this week after President Biden bowed out of the race Sunday, is leading Trump in the Granite State 49 percent to 43 percent. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earned 4 percent support, and 3 percent of respondents said they aren’t sure.

In a two-way contest between Harris and Trump, her lead increases slightly; 53 percent said they would support the vice president, and 46 percent said they back the former commander in chief.

After Biden announced he would no longer seek reelection, backing Harris, Democrats have thrown their support behind the vice president, breaking donation records and leaning into a meme-heavy, highly online campaign. While she is not yet the party’s official nominee, she appears to be on a glide path to the nod.

The survey found Harris’s favorability increased in recent months. In May, 24 percent of New Hampshire voters said they have a favorable view of her. That jumped to 39 percent in the recent July survey.

She also received higher favorability ratings than Biden, Trump and Trump’s new running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).

A separate survey, conducted by the Saint Anselm College’s Survey Center at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, also found Harris holding a 6-point lead over Trump, 50 percent to 44 percent, among registered voters.

The survey also found Harris’s favorability at 49 percent, ranking higher than Biden’s 39 percent and Trump’s 43 percent.

“Harris has achieved a level of partisan enthusiasm that Biden did not, especially among the liberal base,” Neil Levesque, the executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, said in a statement. “As Harris takes the lead in the campaign, shifts in voter perceptions are expected to continue.”

The University of New Hampshire survey was conducted July 23-25 among 3,016 people and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percent.

The Saint Anselm College survey was conducted July 24-25 among 2,083 respondents; its margin of error is 2.1 percent.