In one of the most important battlegrounds state Senate races, New Hampshire Republican and political newcomer Gen. Don Bolduc has all the momentum against incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) in the final hours before Election Day. The Granite State contest is one of the races Democrats believed they had in the bag throughout much of 2022 before the tide turned recently.
Democrats actually ran ads against Bolduc’s GOP adversary before the New Hampshire primary election in September. At the time, they must have assumed that Bolduc would never be able to make up the 13 percentage point lead Hassan held over him in early polling. Democrats eventually spent $3.2 million in the primary election that directly supported Bolduc.
Bolduc won the GOP primary by less than 2,000 votes and has been closing the gap with Hassan ever since. Democrats underestimated Bolduc’s charisma and personal approach to relating to the issues New Hampshire voters have said are most important to them.
While Hassan has largely shied away from public appearances during the home stretch leading into Election Day, Bolduc has held numerous town hall-style meetings where he has engaged directly with voters.
The corporate media has mostly stayed away from New Hampshire since the primary election, dismissing Bolduc as an “extreme MAGA Republican” who has not shown the fund-raising power Hassan has at her disposal as a Washington political player.
Final New Hampshire poll from Wick Insights has Bolduc and Hassan polling almost exactly even 48.4 to 48.3, but undecideds breaking 95 to 5 (!) for the Republican pic.twitter.com/okFHtVB8qt
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) November 6, 2022
In a debate between the candidates Wednesday evening, Hassan demonstrated her elite and unrelatable status when she complained about the increasing cost of eggs at grocery stores. Her credibility on pricing issues is challenged by her status as a multimillionaire.
She and her husband, Thomas Hassan, own four homes worth an estimated $5.5 million. Their property is spread across three states and Washington, D.C.
When inflation came up in last week’s debate, Hassan said her husband recently “gasped” at the “sticker price” of eggs. In a previous debate, Hasson took the familiar Democratic approach of blaming anything for the 40-year record inflation hammering Americans except her party’s free-spending fiscal policies. She said that Vladimir Putin, supply chain disruptions, and corporate greed are to blame for the rising cost of living.
During Wednesday’s debate, Bolduc described inflation as the “ultimate tax” laid on Americans by Washington politicians.
The latest RealClearPolitics (RCP) polling average shows Hassan is holding on to a 0.7 percentage point lead over Bolduc. However, RCP is projecting that Bolduc will win the race when taking into account the historic underrepresentation of GOP voters in New Hampshire and the fact that Bolduc has been rapidly closing ground on the incumbent.
