Joe Biden left New Hampshire before polls closed during the primary in anticipation of an embarrassing defeat, but the state seems firmly behind him ahead of November’s general election.
Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, has an early 8 percentage-point lead on President Trump, according to a new poll released Wednesday by Saint Anselm College. The two-term vice president and 36-year Delaware senator is ahead of Trump 50% to 42%, with the White House incumbent’s job approval hovering around 43% and his disapproval at 57%.
Although Biden’s early edge is expected to shrink closer to Election Day, the study is a positive marker for New Hampshire Democrats. 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton only won the state’s four Electoral College votes over Trump by four-tenths of a percentage point, or roughly 2,700 votes.
Saint Anselm College’s poll also suggests both Republican Gov. Chris Sununu and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen are on track to win reelection this cycle based on strong favorability and job approval numbers. Almost three-quarters of registered New Hampshire voters approve of Sununu, who is in his second two-year term as governor. More than half hold the same opinion of Shaheen, a former governor first elected in 2008 who is up for reelection in 2020.
Biden came in fifth in February’s first-in-the-nation primary, flying out of New Hampshire early to shore up his South Carolina “firewall.” His bet paid off, with his decisive victory in South Carolina helping to galvanize support from the Democratic establishment ahead of Super Tuesday on March 3.
Saint Anselm College Survey Center researchers questioned 820 New Hampshire registered voters online from April 23-27 after randomly selecting them based on their cellphone numbers. The poll’s results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
