Democratic voters in New Hampshire are more confident in Hillary Clinton’s ability to win a general election now that they’ve seen the former secretary of state’s perform on the debate stage.
According to a new poll by Boston’s NPR station WBUR, 71 percent of New Hampshire Democrats now believe Clinton can beat the eventual Republican nominee in a general election as opposed to 56 percent who were confident in her electability in the same poll last month.
Eighteen percent of Democrats in the first-of-the-nation primary state think the former first lady would ultimately fail to win a general election while 11 percent refused to respond or were unsure. In comparison, 45 percent of voters said Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would fail to beat the Republican nominee in a head-to-head matchup.
Clinton has also jumped to 35 percent support among Democrats, putting her back on top of the Democratic field in New Hampshire after losing her lead to Sanders in August. The Vermont senator remains at 32 percent support, marking no change from where he stood in September.
Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden has dropped from 12 percent to 7 percent support since September. Biden is expected to announce his 2016 decision this month and will be forced to play catch-up in New Hampshire should he join the Democratic field.
The WBUR survey of approximately 400 likely voters in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary was conducted from Oct. 15-18 by the nonpartisan polling group, MassINC. Results contain a 4.9 percent margin of error.
