Advertisement WMUR poll: Clinton still leads in NH, but gap narrows Democrat now leads 45 percent to 38 percent in Granite State Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The race for president in the Granite State has grown tighter in the past two weeks, but Hillary Clinton is still in a strong position to scoop up the battleground state’s four important electoral votes. A new WMUR Granite State Poll, released Monday evening, shows Democrat Clinton leading Republican Donald Trump 45 percent to 38 percent, with 6 percent for Libertarian Gary Johnson and 1 percent for Green Party candidate Jill Stein. The poll shows that 7 percent of those polled are undecided. Overall, however, there is ample room for fluctuation in the final week of the campaign. The poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, showed that 79 percent of likely Granite Staters have definitely decided who they will support on Election Day, while 12 percent have yet to come to a final decision and 9 percent are leaning toward a candidate. The survey center polled 641 likely voters from Oct. 26-30 and said the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. View the full poll results here. The survey center said the polling sample included 43 percent registered undeclared likely voters, 30 percent registered Republicans and 28 percent registered Democrats. But 43 percent of those polled were self-described Democrats, 41 percent were self-described Republicans and 17 percent considered themselves independents. About half of the polling was conducted prior to, and about half was conducted after, the latest major revelation in the presidential race, the survey center said. FBI Director James Comey disclosed on Friday afternoon, Oct. 28, that he was reviewing new emails in an investigation into former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner’s sexting and as a result, would be effectively reopening the investigation into Clinton’s private email server. The disclosure by Comey was viewed as a setback for the Clinton campaign, prompting calls by the candidate, her team and supporters for Comey to disclose more details of what the FBI had uncovered. But survey center director Andrew Smith said he does not believe the Comey disclosure had a significant impact on the poll. ‘It usually takes five to seven or eight days for something like that to sink in to the electorate. So I don’t think we’ve seen any impact of that yet, which means it will probably continue to tighten up,” he said. “We’ve seen polls tightening up on the national level as well,” Smith said. “Trump seems to be more focused and the impact of the ‘Access Hollywood’ video tape has dissipated, and we’re now getting into the final part of the campaign. There are a lot of Republicans who do not like Trump but are convincing themselves they like Clinton less and will come around to support him.” “And independents, who had been trending toward Clinton, now are leaning slightly to Trump.” Meanwhile, the poll found that 85 percent of Democratic voters, 76 percent of Republican voters and 71 percent of independents have made a final decision on who they will support on Election Day. Still trying to decide are 17 percent of independents, 14 percent of Republicans and 7 percent of Democrats. Smith explained that in the so-called “horse race” question, likely voters are asked who they would support if the election were today. The percentages for the candidates include those who are leaning toward supporting each candidate, even though they may not have made a final, definite decision on who they will vote for on Nov. 8. As a result, 12 percent of likely voters have not made a final decision about who they will support on Election Day, while 7 percent of likely voters could not say who they would vote for if the election were held today. Although the race in New Hampshire has tightened, the poll shows that 60 percent of Granite State voters believe Clinton will win the presidential election, while 25 percent believe Trump will be elected. In a WMUR Granite State Poll conducted from Oct. 11-17, the Clinton led Trump 48 percent to 33 percent with 7 percent for Johnson and 2 percent for Stein. Smith said at the time that he expected the race in New Hampshire to tighten in the final days before the election. Both candidates remain unpopular. The new poll shows that Trump is viewed favorably by only 30 percent of likely voters, while 64 percent view him unfavorably. Clinton is only slightly more popular, with 38 percent viewing her favorably and 56 percent viewing her unfavorably. The poll shows there continues to be a gender split in the race, with Clinton leading among women, 55 percent to 33 percent, and men favoring Trump, 43 percent to 35 percent. Trump’s strongest support is among working class men, leading Clinton 64 percent to 13 percent, while Clinton strongest lead is among college educated women, 64 percent to 25 percent.