MANCHESTER, NH – The Saint Anselm College Survey Center at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP) has launched its inaugural survey, assessing significant degrees of partisanship between Democratic and Republican voters in the state, as well as strikingly different solidarity within the individual parties.
“The Winter 2018 Poll by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center shows a clear difference between the two major parties in New Hampshire, site of the first-in-the-nation Presidential primary election,” said Neil Levesque, Executive Director of the NHIOP. “In New Hampshire, the Republican party is fractured, with 21 percent believing the country is on the wrong track, and only 82 percent declaring they’d vote today for a Republican Congressional candidate. By contrast, nearly 95 percent of Democrats believe the country is on the wrong track, and 93 percent would vote for their party’s Congressional candidate today.”
Levesque says survey results also show 23 percent of Republicans have an unfavorable view of President Trump. “There is definitely a chance for Republican candidates to challenge the President.”
The Saint Anselm College Survey Center further identified mood of the electorate for the state’s governor and two U.S. Senators. According to Levesque, “The one bright spot for Republicans is Governor Chris Sununu, who despite the polarized environment carries a 59 percent favorability rating among all voters. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan are also well-liked by voters, with 60 percent and 55 percent approval, respectively.”
The NHIOP poll also asked voters for their level of concern with Russian election interference. Of Republicans, nearly 22 percent are “Very Concerned,” and 20 percent are “Somewhat Concerned.” Among Democrats in New Hampshire, over 74 percent of voters are “Very Concerned.”
The Saint Anselm College Survey Center was created following the mixed polling results prior to the 2016 Presidential election.
“The NHIOP at Saint Anselm College has created a professional survey center with state-of-the-art collection equipment to run a solid, highly scientific poll,” explains Levesque. Our surveys are conducted exclusively with officially-registered voters. We dial them directly; we don’t randomly dial, and we concentrate our survey time to ensure a statistically-valid poll.”
The poll of registered voters is conducted by Saint Anselm College students, providing an excellent learning opportunity, especially for political aspirants. Levesque notes he as well as involved faculty and the students must be certified by the college’s Institutional Review Board before participation in the polling.
FEBRUARY 2018 POLL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
These results are from the inaugural Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll based on interviews with 428 randomly-selected registered voters in the state of New Hampshire. Interviews were conducted by landline and cellular phone between Feb. 21 – 23. The overall survey has a margin of sampling error of 4.7 percent with a confidence interval of 95 percent; the margin of sampling error on questions specific to the congressional districts is 6.7 percent for District 1 and 6.7 percent for District 2.
New Hampshire Institute of Politics Executive Director Neil Levesque summarized the results, saying, “This poll really shows a clear difference between the two major parties: the Democrats have very high partisan intensity on questions related to President Trump, the direction of the country, and this fall’s Congressional elections. By contrast, Republicans are more fractured: 23 percent have an unfavorable view of Trump, 21 percent believe the country is on the wrong track, and only 82 percent would vote for a Republican congressional candidate today. The one bright spot for Republicans is Governor Chris Sununu, who despite the polarized environment carries a 59 percent favorability rating among all voters. Senators Shaheen and Hassan are also well-liked by voters, with 60 percent and 55 percent favorability respectively.”
ABOUT THE NEW HAMPSHIRE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS
Founded in 2001, the New Hampshire Institute of Politics & Political Library at Saint Anselm College provides a nonpartisan forum for discussion and debate. It seeks to develop programming, and to foster scholarship and dialogue, encompassing a diverse range of political topics, opinions and issues. The Institute serves as a resource for students, scholars, politicians, and the general public. http://www.anselm.edu/nhiop
