Hodes Trails Two GOP Hopefuls in New Hampshire Senate Match-Ups

Two-term Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes trails both potential Republican nominees in the race to fill the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Judd Gregg, according to an American Research Group poll conducted Dec. 26-29.

The state's Attorney General, Kelly Ayotte, leads Hodes 43 percent to 36 percent with 21 percent undecided. Ayotte has stronger support among fellow Republicans than Hodes does among Democrats and she has a slight edge among independents.

Lawyer Ovide Lamontagne, who describes himself as a conservative running against the GOP establishment, has a 37 percent to 31 percent lead over Hodes with 32 percent undecided.

Thirty percent of independents are undecided when it comes to a Hodes-Ayotte match-up and 47 percent are undecided when given the choice of Hodes-Lamontagne.

The margin of error is 4.1 points.