NH-Sen: The University of New Hampshire’s new poll of the Sept. 13 Republican primary shows retired Army Brig. General Donald Bolduc, whom Gov. Chris Sununu recently labeled a “conspiracy-theory extremist” who is “not a serious candidate,” posting a serious 43-22 lead over state Senate President Chuck Morse in the contest to face Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan.
This survey comes about two weeks after another Granite State university, Saint Anselm College, gave Bolduc a 32-16 advantage over Morse; nine other candidates are also on the ballot, but none of them exceeded 5% in either poll. We haven’t seen any other numbers from the last Senate primary of the entire cycle (other than Louisiana’s uncompetitive Nov. 8 all-party primary), but even Morse’s campaign acknowledged last week that Bolduc is leading their man.
However, a Morse strategist predicted that he’d pull ahead in the final two weeks thanks to his huge financial advantage: The state Senate leader ended June 30 with $980,000 in the bank (updated numbers are due Thursday evening), while Bolduc had just $70,000 to spend.
Bolduc, who lost the 2020 primary for New Hampshire’s other Senate seat, has used his second try to carve out a far-right image by embracing the Big Lie, though he seems just as passionate about bashing his fellow Republicans. Last year, the retired general accused Sununu of being a "Chinese communist sympathizer" with a family business that "supports terrorism.”
Bolduc very much didn’t apologize at a recent debate, saying instead, “Listen, he’s on the ‘Chinese Communist friendly’ list as published by our State Department and as briefed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.” He continued, “That’s a fact. Now, I’ve also said that perhaps calling him a Chinese Communist sympathizer was a bit of an exaggeration.” Sununu, whom Senate Republicans unsuccessfully tried to recruit here, isn’t in a forgiving mood either, saying of Bolduc, “If he were the nominee, I have no doubt we would have a much harder time trying to win that seat back.”
Morse, by contrast, is the one GOP candidate who acknowledged that Joe Biden is the president when asked earlier this month if the 2020 election was stolen. He’s still more than willing to use Trumpian themes, though, as the narrator in his new commercial pledges he’ll “finish President Trump’s wall.”
What the ad doesn’t feature, though, is Morse making the case for himself, but there may be a good reason for that. Former state party chair Fergus Cullen told Politico that Morse, whom he supports, “is not flashy, and does not have charisma.” Cullen added, “If Trump was all entertainment and drama, Chuck Morse is the opposite—and that could be a liability for him in a primary.”
While Trump himself praised Bolduc last year, one prominent MAGA apparatchik is doing what he can to make sure this never turns into a primary endorsement. Corey Lewandowski, who was the first of Trump’s many campaign managers, says he’s warned his former boss that Bolduc would cost the GOP the seat and predicted that the NRSC wouldn’t air ads to support him in a general election. The committee, which has $6.3 million reserved for the general election, did not respond when Politico asked if this was the case.
The other major question looming over the race is whether well-funded allies of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who just last week bemoaned that “candidate quality” could keep the GOP from seizing the majority, will take action to stop Bolduc. So far the answer is no as there’s been only minimal outside spending for the GOP primary, but national observers will be watching closely to see if that changes over the final two weeks of the primary season.