Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan narrowly leads incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte in the New Hampshire Senate race, according to a poll commissioned by End Citizens United, a Democratic PAC.
Hassan had a 47 percent to 44 percent edge over Ayotte, a slight improvement for the Democrat since GBA Strategies last polled the race in July and found it tied 47-47. Libertarian Brian Chabot took 7 percent — up from 4 percent in July.
The presidential race has tightened with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton leading GOP rival Donald Trump 43 percent to 37 percent. She had enjoyed a 10-point 48-38 percent advantage in July. Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson was at 11 percent and the Green Party's Jill Stein was at 4 percent in this most recent poll.
GBA Strategies surveyed 600 likely voters on land lines and cell phones from Sept. 25 to 27. Two-thirds of the interviews were conducted before Monday night's presidential debate.
And Hassan’s campaign has really been stepping up on the attacks against Ayotte on this issue:
Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan’s U.S. Senate campaign launched a new internet ad on Thursday, accusing Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s TV ads of fighting for women’s healthcare of being misleading.
The new spot, which was first reported by NH1 News on Thursday, comes as both campaigns have gone up with a series of TV commercials and web ads this week over the increasing bitter issue of women’s health.
“Don’t be fooled by those Ayotte ads that she’s fighting for women’s health care,” a women identified as Casey from Waterville Valley declared at the top of the ad.
“She may look moderate, but I looked it up, she voted six times to defund Planned Parenthood,” Ilyssa of Rollinsford said.
“And now she’s running these ads saying she’s protected women’s healthcare. That’s just not true,” Gabrielle of Exeter added.
“Those ads are just a cover-up, trying to hide her real record on women’s health care,” Ilyssa charged.
The Hassan campaign says the new web ad’s part of their week long push to contrast “the stark contrast between Governor Hassan's record of standing up for a woman's right to make her own health care decisions, and Kelly Ayotte's Washington record of consistently blocking women’s access to care.”
"Kelly Ayotte's record is clear: she has voted six times to defund Planned Parenthood and make it harder for Granite State women and families to access preventive health care services," Hassan campaign press secretary Meira Bernstein told NH1 News. "Now she's trying to cover up her record with misleading ads that distort her votes in Washington - but Granite State women know better, and we will continue to hold Ayotte accountable for her real Washington record."