Gov. Chris Sununu continues to enjoy high approval ratings and a strong lead over his Democratic challenger, Molly Kelly, according to a poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center released Friday, setting up challenges for the former state senator in the final stretch of her campaign.
The poll found that 50 percent of likely New Hampshire voters would vote for Sununu today, compared to 39 percent to Kelly, with 4 percent supporting Libertarian Jilletta Jarvis and 7 percent undecided. Kelly, meanwhile, appears to be lacking a major ingredient two weeks out from election day: name recognition.
Forty-eight percent of all respondents do not know her well — including 40 percent of Democrats.
Just 77 percent of Democrats say they’ll vote for her; 94 percent of Republicans, in contrast, say they will vote for Sununu, the survey found.
A spokesman for Sununu, Ben Vihstadt, expressed confidence. “The numbers speak for themselves,” he said in a statement.
Chris Moyer, a spokesman for Kelly, said she was “gaining support from people who know she will build a New Hampshire that works for everyone. Meanwhile, Chris Sununu is an incumbent who’s failing to get even half the voters to support him for re-election.”
Still, when it comes to Election Day, the race has a wide opportunity for change, the survey found. Just 51 percent of likely voters have “definitely” decided on a choice and 16 percent are “leaning” to a candidate.
That leaves a third of voters still trying to decide.
Both parties appear equally motivated; 72 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of Republicans say they will definitely vote Nov. 6.
Democrats have a narrow edge over election interest; 79 percent are “extremely or very interested” to Republicans’ 73 percent.
But when it comes to independents — long championed the kingmakers in Granite State elections — enthusiasm has lagged this year. Just 43 percent plan to vote next month, according to the poll, down from 55 percent in August.
The poll was conducted with 643 adults chosen at random and contacted by landline and cellphone, according to the Survey Center. Of those adults, 499 were likely voters, for whom the margin for error was 4.4 percent.