Hillary Clinton today will drop into New Hampshire territory, where Bernie Sanders’ summer surge is viewed as no fluke, say Democratic activists, who warn there are still many voters hungry for a challenge to a nomination that has been long viewed as Clinton’s to lose.

“When we talked about this months ago, we were hoping for a good contested primary. And that’s what we’re going to have,” said Dave Pollak, Democratic committee chair in Belknap County, where the former secretary of state is scheduled to host a substance abuse forum at a Laconia Boys & Girls Club.

Belknap County is “very, very red” conservative country but the Democratic activists tend to be very liberal, Pollak explained.

“And I think he (Sanders) is bringing people to the table — in the same way that (Donald) Trump is on the other side — who feel like they haven’t necessarily been represented before,” said Pollak, who’s neutral in the race. “That’s why it’s not just a summer surge. There’s a real thing happening. No one wants to crown the winner before the game.”

Clinton has been hit by a series of polls showing Sanders taking a growing lead in the first-in-the-?nation primary. She has reportedly countered with a new approach: injecting spontaneity into her performances in an effort to show more “heart.”

Her Laconia stop will be in a former church with a room no bigger than a basketball court, where she can get up close and personal with voters.

Still, her biggest problem, said Andy Smith, director of UNH’s Survey Center, lies in trying to shift strategy when she is so well-known. “She is the same candidate as she was in 2008,” Smith said. “and she suffered these sorts of problems in 2008.”