We are hours away from the first of the Iowa caucus results and just over a week away from the New Hampshire primary.

For those of you who may be suffering from “poll fatigue” or “candidate overload,” I want to put these polls and the importance of the outcomes of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary in perspective.

I am a recent transplant from Idaho.

In Idaho, they have seen no candidates except on television. In Idaho, there are few if any survey calls going out to ask voters about the issues important to them. And in Idaho, ?debates and discussions about favored candidates are limited to politics junkies and political science professors like myself.

Idaho is fundamentally different at this time of year from New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina. Idaho and New Hampshire have the same number of electoral votes, but it will be New Hampshire (and Iowa and South Carolina) that determine what candidates Idahoans will be talking about and voting for.

When I left Idaho last July, Trump and Sanders weren’t considered “real” candidates, and the general election predictions revolved around Clinton versus Rubio or Bush.

The most recent Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald poll shows that both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are increasing their leads in New Hampshire. The Republican poll also indicates that there is a fierce battle for second place in the Granite State.

There is a very real possibility by the time the state caucuses and first few primaries are finished, some of the early favorites will drop out of the races ?because of a poor showing. By March, when Idaho voters come into play, those of you who have participated in the polling, and get to vote early, will, in essence, have told the people of Idaho — and Michigan, and Florida, and New York among others — who they get to pick from.

As a former late-state voter, I now understand that you early-state voters wait until the last minute to make up your minds because you have an awesome responsibility. Choose wisely.

Christina Cliff is a visiting assistant professor of political science at Franklin Pierce University.

Poll results:

Summary: Franklin Pierce University-Boston Herald poll of Democratic voters

Tables: Franklin Pierce University-Boston Herald poll of Democratic voters

Summary: Franklin Pierce University-Boston Herald poll of Republican voters

Tables: Franklin Pierce University-Boston Herald poll of Republican voters