NH: Poll Shows No Clear Frontrunner

A new PPP poll shows that there is no clear front-runner in the race to replace Sen. Bonnie Newman (R-NH) in 2010. Newman was appointed to replace Judd Gregg (R) after Gregg was tapped as President Obama's Commerce Secretary last week. Newman is not expected to run for the seat in 2010.

The poll pitted Democratic Reps. Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter against two Republicans, former Sen. John Sununu and Rep. Charlie Bass. Here are the numbers:

Hodes--46%
Sununu--44%

Hodes--40%
Bass--37%

Shea-Porter--45%
Sununu--46%

Shea-Porter--42%
Bass--43%

Both Sununu and Bass run well against these two Democrats, but if both of them decide to pass on the race--Sununu has not shown any interest in the race and Bass will probably run for Hodes' House seat--the Republican bench gets very thin and they won't have much of a chance of retaining the seat.

On the Democratic side, Hodes has already announced his candidacy and the Democratic establishment is beginning to rally around him. The poll found that 42% of New Hampshire voters view Hodes favorably while 34% view him unfavorably.

Shea-Porter is still reportedly pondering a run, but might defer because of the support that Hodes is garnering. She has an approval rating of 43-40, and does slightly worse than Hodes against both potential Republican candidates.