By Roger Wood, InDepthNH
Courtesy photo
Roger Wood
With spring approaching, the weather and the political midterm election season will be heating up. If you get a call from the New Hampshire Institute of Politics survey center, you’ll be participating in the state’s newest polling entity.
The center, part of St. Anselm College, has just published its first ever survey, utilizing qualified students in a strict methodology of data collecting. Roger Wood spoke with Neil Levesque, executive director in his latest podcast.
By Chip Underhill
The Saint Anselm College Survey Center at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP) has launched its inaugural survey, assessing significant degrees of partisanship between Democratic and Republican voters in the state, as well as strikingly different solidarity within the individual parties.
“The Winter 2018 Poll by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center shows a clear difference between the two major parties in New Hampshire, site of the first-in-the-nation Presidential primary election,” said Neil Levesque, executive director of the NHIOP. “In New Hampshire, the Republican party is fractured, with 21% believing the country is on the wrong track, and only 82% declaring they’d vote today for a Republican Congressional candidate. By contrast, nearly 95% of Democrats believe the country is on the wrong track, and 93% would vote for their party’s Congressional candidate today.”
Levesque says survey results also show 23% of Republicans have an unfavorable view of President Trump. “There is definitely a chance for Republican candidates to challenge the President.”
The Saint Anselm College Survey Center further identified mood of the electorate for the state’s governor and two U.S. Senators. According to Levesque, “The one bright spot for Republicans is Governor Chris Sununu, who despite the polarized environment carries a 59% favorability rating among all voters. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan are also well-liked by voters, with 60% and 55% approval, respectively.”
The NHIOP poll also asked voters for their level of concern with Russian election interference. Of Republicans, nearly 22% are “Very Concerned,” and 20% are “Somewhat Concerned.” Among Democrats in New Hampshire, over 74% of voters are “Very Concerned.”
The Saint Anselm College Survey Center was created following the mixed polling results prior to the 2016 Presidential election.
“The NHIOP at Saint Anselm College has created a professional survey center with state-of-the-art collection equipment to run a solid, highly scientific poll,” explains Levesque. Our surveys are conducted exclusively with officially-registered voters. We dial them directly; we don’t randomly dial, and we concentrate our survey time to ensure a statistically-valid poll.”
The poll of registered voters is conducted by Saint Anselm College students, providing an excellent learning opportunity, especially for political aspirants. Levesque notes he as well as involved faculty and the students must be certified by the college’s Institutional Review Board before participation in the polling.
Saint Anselm College
Founded in 1889, Saint Anselm College is a four-year liberal arts college providing a 21st century education in the Catholic, Benedictine tradition. Located in southern New Hampshire near Boston and the seacoast, Saint Anselm is well known for its strong liberal arts and nursing programs as well as for the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. www.anselm.edu