Sen. Kelly Ayotte has been left in the dust in a new poll showing the New Hampshire Republican some 10 points behind her Democratic challenger.
The poll of 609 New Hampshire voters
conducted by NPR affiliate WBUR shows Gov. Maggie Hassan leading Ayotte, who is seeking reelection, 50 percent to 40 percent.
That's an impressive new lead for Hassan, who has been neck-and-neck with Ayotte in recent polls. The latest Real Clear Politics average of more than 25 polls had Hassan barely squeaking by Ayotte by a single point, 45.6 percent to 44.6 percent.
The WBUR poll shows the biggest lead yet for Hassan, who was elected New Hampshire's 81st governor in 2012.
Steve Koczela, president of MassInc Polling which
conducted the WBUR poll, said there is a "very close relationship" between the support for Ayotte and that of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
"Their support is sort of locked together. And with the direction that Donald Trump seems to be heading in, Kelly Ayotte's task is to somehow decouple those two," he said.
Trump has taken shots at Ayotte in the past, earlier this week telling The Washington Post: "I don't know Kelly Ayotte. I know she's given me no support — zero support — and yet I'm leading her in the polls. I'm doing very well in New Hampshire."
Ayotte, like a number of other fair-weather Republicans, has declined to endorse Trump outright but says she'll support the Republican nominee in November.
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