A new poll of New Hampshire primary voters has some shocking news for a few of the Democrat presidential contenders.
The poll, released Monday from Saint Anselm College, shows that failed senate candidate Robert “Beto” O’Rourke’s support has vanished even though he began his campaign with media adoration. Since then, O’Rourke has apologized for various so-called transgressions, such as a joke about his marriage and his “white privilege.” Now he’s announcing that he and his wife are both descendants of slave owners as if that would help his campaign. So, it should come as no surprise that O’Rourke didn’t even register on the school’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics poll. He also had the second lowest approval rating (29.8%) despite having one of the highest name recognition scores (90.9%).
Following her odd-but-meme-worthy debate performance, self-help guru Marianne Williamson is now polling ahead of O’Rourke and other well-known candidates. To be clear, Williamson is in no way a contender according to this poll, but her 1.5% support should put some other candidates on notice.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), for example, should be questioning why he has consistently polled in the bottom in recent months. Once a social media star as a mayor in the Garden State, Booker quickly disappeared upon entering the U.S. Senate. His campaign has failed to attract media attention or stand out from the pack. He has wilted in the shadow of former California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who came in second place in the New Hampshire poll.
Williamson is also polling ahead of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who was Hillary Clinton’s successor in the Empire State. Gillibrand in recent years has disavowed many of her previous policy positions in the name of progressivism, appearing as though she will support whatever is politically useful at the time. She has also been instrumental in destroying the due process rights of those in the military and in college. She has barely registered on any poll to date, but now comes in behind a woman who once tweeted, “Your body is merely your space station from whence you beam your love to the universe.”
Gillibrand is not just behind Williamson, she has half the support. She’s currently polling at 0.7%, though she also doesn’t appear on the name recognition results.
The pollsters interviewed 351 New Hampshire registered voters who said they would vote in the primary. Former Vice President Joe Biden narrowly won the poll with 20.8% support, followed closely by Harris at 17.5%. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren received 16.7% and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg received 11.5%. Sen. Bernie Sanders of neighboring Vermont came in fifth with 9.9% support.
The poll dropped just before second-quarter fundraising totals were released, showing Buttigieg outraised all his opponents — with $24.8 million. Biden followed with $21.5 million, followed by Warren and Sanders. Harris, whose campaign boasted about her largest single-day fundraising total following her debate performance, ended up raising $12 million for the quarter.
Booker ($4.5 million), O’Rourke ($3.6 million), and Gillibrand ($2.3 million), all raised more than Williamson, who reported $1.5 million, according to CNN.