Shea-Porter viewed more favorable than Hodes, among NH Dems

A new University of New Hampshire poll shows that both of New Hampshire’s U.S. Senators enjoy high favorable ratings.

The poll also shows that U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) has a higher favorable rating than U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes (D-Rochester). Hodes announced earlier this month that he would run for the United States Senate in 2010 and Shea-Porter is also considering running for the seat.

According to the poll, “Shea-Porter is well positioned in a primary battle with Hodes, as 61% of Democrats view Shea-Porter favorably compared to 50% for Hodes. However, Shea-Porter is viewed much more unfavorably by Republicans than Hodes is, with 50% of Republicans having an unfavorable opinion of Shea-Porter compared to 28% for Hodes.”

“Democrats have a difficult choice between Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes,” said Andrew Smith, Director of the UNH Survey Center, in a press release. “Hodes looks to be better positioned for a general election, but Shea-Porter appeals more strongly to their party’s liberal base.”

The poll has U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) with high favorability ratings.

Granite Staters gave Gregg a favorability rating of 64 percent, while 15 percent have an unfavorable rating of the senior United States Senator. The poll was taken before Gregg withdrew his name from consideration for the Secretary of Commerce post.

Shaheen is viewed favorably by 56 percent of poll respondents and 32 percent had unfavorable view of Shaheen.

The House always wins

The UNH Survey Center has released a new poll exploring public sentiment over expanded gaming and the current budget crisis.

According to the poll:

“The only revenue option that is somewhat politically popular is expanding legal gambling – 41% say they would be more likely to vote for a State Senate candidate who favored legalized gambling, 37% said they would be more likely to vote against, 18% said it would make little difference in their vote, and 4% don’t know.

There has been little change in how New Hampshire adults feel about these issues over the past 10 years. The biggest difference is the percentage who said any of these revenue options would make no difference on their vote has declined, an indication that people have thought more about their options during the current crisis.”

When dealing with this issue remember that the House always wins.