Free Republic

"A Donald Trump-Mitt Romney showdown in New Hampshire Looks like Donald Trump's win-the-birthers strategy is working in New Hampshire — and that’s coming at the expense of front-runner Mitt Romney. Romney leads the first-in-the-nation primary contest in a multitude of scenarios involving difference candidates, often by as much as a 2-1 margin, according to a survey out Tuesday from Public Policy Polling. But when Trump gets into the race, Romney’s edge shrinks to 6 points, 27 percent to 21 percent. If Trump isn't included in the survey, Romney draws 32 percent of the vote, with Mike Huckabee a distant second...

New Hampshire Democrats conceded a dramatic loss of power to a Republican insurgency last November. Now another group is coming to terms with its sidelining. Moderate Republicans, the practical-minded mainstay of the state’s venerable GOP, have watched in dismay as conservative legislators have proposed restricting state education funding to English, math, science, social studies, and physical education and urged that officials no longer “bear faith and true allegiance’’ to the United States and New Hampshire, but rather, only to New Hampshire. With the recent ascension of Tea Party activist Jack Kimball to head the state Republican Party, many moderates now...

Republicans are on their way to controlling nearly 300 seats in New Hampshire's House of Representatives, according to preliminary vote counts. The latest tally shows 296 seats firmly in Republican hands, with three seats yet to be decided. GOP sources say two of those will likely go their way and leave Democrats with 102 seats. In the Senate, the final split is 19-5, according to figures at the Secretary of State's office. That represents a pickup of nine seats for the Republicans, who were the minority in a 14-10 Senate for the past four years. [SNIP] Secretary of State William...

NBC News projects that Kelly Ayotte wins the New Hampshire Senate Seat.

The polls close in an hour and a half in some Towns, get out and vote.

<p>CONCORD – The New Hampshire Republican State Committee today denounced Democrat NH House candidate Kevin Halloran’s public death wish for former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. The Party also called on Governor John Lynch and Congressional Candidate Ann McLane Kuster to personally denounce his hateful remarks and call for him to apologize to the Palin family.</p>

Expect to see a lot of analysis about what's going on in New Hampshire after this poll. Public Policy Polling looked at the Senate race and found a striking change since Republican Kelly Ayotte scored an endorsement from Sarah Palin. As a former attorney general, Ayotte has already run statewide and voters considering who they want to succeed retiring Sen. Judd Gregg ought to be at least somewhat familiar with her. But the Mama Grizzly seal of approval seems to have raised some doubts about Ayotte with the biggest bloc of voters in the state. Ayotte's lead over Rep. Paul...

CONCORD – Republican vice presidential nominee and ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Monday simultaneously endorsed GOP Senate hopeful Kelly Ayotte of Nashua and slapped around Ayotte’s two main rivals for the job. Palin posted on her Facebook page a surprise endorsement in this crowded primary to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg. “It’s my honor to endorse a Granite State “mama grizzly” who has broken barriers, fought off and locked up criminals, and battled all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the rights of New Hampshire parents – and won,” Palin wrote. “New Hampshire is lucky to...

Today Sarah Palin endorsed former AG Kelly Ayotte’s senate bid, setting off an earthquake that shook the political landscape in New Hampshire. Within minutes of the endorsement, headlines started screaming on blogs and newsites on the state and national scene. Ayotte’s Democratic opponent Paul Hodes and liberal blog Blue Hampshire started hyperventilating almost immediately, while Ayotte’s GOP opponents had conniptions of their own. Ovide Lamontagne denounced the endorsement in a long, rambling statement, while a Bender spokesman tried to downplay it by saying that they may have seen something about it but deleted the email. Regardless of your opinion on...

Todd, Willow, and I are headed out to Kodiak and Afognak to meet with logging families on the forested islands. As we work and sightsee on America’s largest island we’ll get to view more majestic bears, so now is a good time to draw attention to the political equivalent of the species. It’s my honor to endorse a Granite State “mama grizzly” who has broken barriers, fought off and locked up criminals, and battled all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the rights of New Hampshire parents – and won! New Hampshire is lucky to have Kelly...

Ayotte Builds Momentum for "Year of the Pro-Life Woman"

A new poll from University of New Hampshire gives Republicans the edge in the two competitive House races and the open-seat Senate race in the Granite State. In the Senate race, former Attorney General Kelly Ayotte (R) leads Rep. Paul Hodes (D), 47 percent to 32 percent, with 21 percent undecided. Ayotte also tests strongest in the GOP field against Hodes with every other Republican in the field -- attorney Ovide Lamontagne, businessmen Bill Binnie and Jim Bender -- in a statistical tie with the Democratic Congressman. In the 1st congressional district, Manchestor Mayor Frank Guinta leads Rep. Carol Shea-Porter,...

(snip) McCain this year finds himself in a primary battle with former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth in his effort to win a fifth six-year term in Arizona. "I'm confident of victory but I have taken every race I've ever been in seriously, and I take this one seriously as well," he said. He said he holds town-hall-style meetings throughout his home state, just as he did in New Hampshire during his 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns. But, he added, "None are quite like Peterborough," which he called his favorite venue. McCain said that from Arizona to New Hampshire, jobs and...

Using his strongest language to date, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) continued to sound the alarm about the dangers Barack Obama's budget policies pose to the fate of the nation in a speech given today to the New England Council in Bedford, New Hampshire.The Ranking Member on the Senate Budget Committee has been speaking out in very stark terms about the effects Obama's trillion dollar deficits and out of this world spending will have on the near and long term future of the American people.The Union Leader quoted Gregg as saying Obama's fiscal policies will lead to bankruptcy for the nation.Gregg...

TARP: The OMB director is grilled over the misuse of bank bailout funds for purposes other than intended by Congress. This taxpayer money wasn't intended to be the administration's perpetual slush fund. When the specifically targeted and named Troubled Asset Relief Program was enacted, we were told it was a necessary and wise investment. It would stabilize the financial system and keep credit and money moving. We would even get our money back and then some. Many banks didn't want the money or need it. Some were told to take it or they'd be audited. So they took it. The...

Former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte remains the strongest Republican running against Democratic Congressman Paul Hodes in New Hampshire’s race for the U.S. Senate, but the numbers have changed very little over the past few months. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state shows Ayotte leading Hodes 46% to 39%. Three percent (3%) prefer another candidate, and 13% are undecided. A month ago, Ayotte led Hodes 49% to 40%. In September, it was a 46% to 38% race with the Republican ahead. Hodes still holds his own, however, against two other GOP hopefuls. He leads...

Voters appear to have soured on embattled New Hampshire Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter after a series of bizarre antics have made her the subject of widespread derision in Washington and New Hampshire. According to a new poll by the University of New Hampshire only 35% of likely voters approve of the job Shea-Porter is doing in Congress. 40% disapprove. 24% are neutral or don’t know for sure how they feel. Even worse, all potential Republican candidates for Congress – even the lesser-known candidates – would defeat her if the election were held today. Former Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta performs best against...

There’s a lot of good news in this WMUR Granite State poll (as of this moment, we’re looking at retaining Gregg’s seat, and picking up both House seats), but Shea-Porter’s numbers are the most immediately interesting. 35/40 approval/disapproval (the worst she’s ever had); and she loses to all four hypothetical candidates: In a race between Shea Porter and her best known challenger, Frank Guinta, 43% of likely 1st CD voters say they would vote for Guinta, 33% would vote for Shea Porter, 2% prefer some other candidate, and 22% are undecided. In a matchup with Rich Ashooh, 36% of likely...

There's still the better part of a year to go, but prospects for some GOP House seat pickups in New Hampshire look pretty healthy: According to a new poll by the University of New Hampshire only 35% of likely voters approve of the job [Rep. Carol] Shea-Porter is doing in Congress. 40% disapprove. 24% are neutral or don’t know for sure how they feel. Even worse, all potential Republican candidates for Congress — even the lesser-known candidates — would defeat her if the election were held today. Former Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta performs best against Shea-Porter, defeating her in a...

A new Daily Kos/Research 2000 survey in New Hampshire finds Kelly Ayotte (R) leading Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) for U.S. Senate, 46% to 39%. However, Hodes leads the other Republicans in the race, beating Ovide Lamontagne (R), 46% to 36%, and topping William Binnie (R), 45% to 35%. In the GOP primary, Ayotte leads with 36%, followed by Lamontagne at 27% and Binnie at 4%.