With New Hampshire’s primaries less than a month away, a new public opinion survey indicates that former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte is the clear front-runner in the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

Ayotte, who served as state attorney general before winning election to the U.S. Senate in 2010, stood at 59% support among likely GOP primary voters, with former state Senate President Chuck Morse a distant second at 25%, according to a poll by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics conducted Tuesday and Wednesday (August 13-14). Fourteen percent were undecided.

The poll indicates a close contest for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, with former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig holding a 9-point lead over Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, 37%-28%. Thirty-one percent of likely Democratic primary voters questioned said they were unsure, and two percent were backing small business owner and former Newmarket town councilor Jon Kiper.

In the race to succeed retiring six-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District (which includes Concord), Maggie Goodlander leads Colin Van Ostern in the Democratic primary, according to the poll.

Goodlander, the wife of National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and a former top lawyer in President Biden’s administration, stands at 41% support with Van Ostern, a former executive councilor and the Democrats’ 2016 gubernatorial nominee, at 31% support. Twenty-eight percent were unsure.

In the GOP primary in the 2nd District, 2022 Senate candidate Vikram Mansharamani and Lily Tang Williams, who’s making her second straight bid for the congressional nomination, were tied with 16% support. No other candidate in the field cracked double digits, and 57% of Republican primary voters were unsure.

Three-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas is running for re-election in the state’s 1st Congressional District. In the GOP nomination race to face off with Pappas, the poll indicates Manchester Alderman Joe Kelly Levasseur at 16% support, with former executive councilor and former state Sen. Russell Prescott at 10% and business owner and former Army Reservist Hollie Noveletsky at 9%, Chris Bright at 5% and nearly six in ten unsure.

“With the state and federal primaries less than a month away, the gubernatorial race is becoming clearer, with Kelly Ayotte taking a commanding lead over Chuck Morse. Ayotte is likely to face either Joyce Craig or Cinde Warmington in the general election. The Congressional primaries, however, are far less defined, especially on the Republican side, where both the First and Second District nominations are still wide open,” New Hampshire Institute of Politics executive director Neil Levesque said.

The survey indicates that the economy and inflation, at 26%, is the top issue among all likely voters. It was followed by border security at 18%, elections and voting at 12%, and abortion at 10%. All other issues sampled registered at less than 10%.

The poll is based on online surveys of 1,327 New Hampshire registered voters likely to cast a ballot in next month’s primary. The overall sampling error is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.

Hillary’s help

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a former First Lady and former U.S. senator from New York who as the Democrats’ 2016 presidential nominee narrowly lost to Trump, on Thursday formally endorsed Goodlander in the 2nd District Democratic congressional primary.

“Throughout her career, I’ve watched her take on the toughest fights in all three branches of government. She’s always believed that no politician and no corporation was above the law,” Clinton wrote as she praised Goodlander.

Clinton heads up a coalition of more than 150 women leaders from across the state who are backing Goodlander, in the race to succeed Kuster, who is backing Van Ostern.

Sullivan, Goodlander’s husband, worked as deputy chief of staff to Clinton at the State Department during the Obama administration and was a major policy adviser on Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Clinton, along with her husband former President Bill Clinton, attended the Goodlander-Sullivan wedding in 2015.

Ground game

Granite State Democrats continue to build up their get-out-the-vote efforts.

The New Hampshire coordinated campaign, which is a team effort between the Democratic National Committee, the New Hampshire Democratic Party, and Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign, this week opened their 17th field office.

The office opening, in Conway, drew some 40 people, including Pappas, longtime state Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley, and Carroll County Democrats chair Ed Butler.

When it comes to grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote efforts, the Democrats continue to hold a large advantage over their Republican counterparts in New Hampshire.

Weekend of action

Ahead of Monday’s start of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, state Democrats are planning what they tout will be a “record-breaking weekend of action.”

The coordinated campaign says that they will host over 80 events and engage thousands of voters this weekend, which they note is nearly 50% more events than their previous weekend of action, which took place last month. The weekends of action include canvassing and door knocks by party operatives and volunteers.

The party says that since Harris replaced President Joe Biden atop the Democrat’s 2024 national ticket, coordinated campaign has seen a 415% increase in event attendees and a nearly 500% increase in volunteer shifts completed.

Lewandowski returns to Trump campaign

Corey Lewandowski is officially on board with former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.

Lewandowski is one of a handful of veterans of Trump’s 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns who are joining the 2024 edition.

“Many people want to join the Campaign for the final push, some from the first two Campaigns – And we want as many as we can get! I am pleased to announce that Corey Lewandowski, who was very involved in 2016, will be coming on board as a Senior Advisor,” Trump wrote in a social media posting on Thursday.

Lewandowski, a longtime Windham, New Hampshire resident, served as Trump’s first presidential campaign manager, during the 2016 presidential primaries. Lewandowski, who’s no stranger to controversy, has remained a close political adviser to Trump over the years, both in official and unofficial roles.