LOWELL, MASS. (WHDH) - New Hampshire is a political battleground. An independent state that may end up going both ways, Democratic and Republican, on Election Day.

Hillary Clinton is tightening her grip on the Granite State. In our exclusive 7News/UMass Lowell poll, she has 45 percent of likely voters; six percent more than Donald Trump, at 39. Gary Johnson gets nine; Jill Stein, two. Just four percent are still undecided.

While neither Clinton not Trump is well-liked, more than 50 percent of voters view them both unfavorably, Clinton is considered far more qualified to be president, with 61 percent saying she has the necessary qualificiations to be president. Thirty-four percent, much less, say he does.

“Trump is seen as temperamentally unfit and unqualified by large majorities of voters, and he still only trails by six,” said UMass Lowell pollster Dr. Joshua Dyck. “The Democrats in this election nominated a bad candidate and the Republicans went and nominated a worse candidate. And our data shows that.”

But don’t blame Trump’s standing on just his infamous bus tape. He was already losing support when it became public.

“Republican voters who left Trump left him before this tape came out,” said Dyck. “Only seven percent of Republicans in our survey say that that tape affected their vote.”

In the New Hampshire Senate race, Kelly Ayotte has a precarious lead with 45 percent, one point ahead of Maggie Hassan’s support from 44 percent of likely voters.

As the race nears its end, Ayotte is running away from Trump as quickly as she can, now saying she won’t vote for him because of his comments about women.

“Trump is only getting 77 percent support among Republicans, he’s jumped the shark and the down-ballot Republicans are just trying to hang on,” said Dyck.

For many years, no one won the presidency without winning the New Hampshire primary. But not this year. So the road to the White House won’t go through New Hampshire but the road to controlling the U.S. Senate will.

For a more detailed look at the results of the poll, click here.

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