Exclusive: Polling Shows Matt Mowers With Commanding Lead in Early Republican Primary Race

Republican Matt Mowers showed a commanding lead in New Hampshire’s First Congressional District Republican primary nearly one year out from the midterm elections, according to internal polling data from the Mowers campaign.

The internal poll showed Mowers leading the Republican field with 34 percent from likely Republican primary voters in the district, 27 points ahead of his closest competitor. None of his Republican primary opponents received more than single digits in the poll, with only two of them having more than two percent. The candidates receiving more than two percent were Gail Huff Brown with seven percent and Karoline Leavitt with six percent.

“I am proud that our campaign has the grassroots organization and resources to see us through not only a primary election, but also ultimately against Pelosi puppet Chris Pappas [D-NH], who stands by Joe Biden as he prioritizes illegal immigrants over Granite State families,” Mowers exclusively told Breitbart News.

President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi leave a meeting with House Democrats at the U.S. Capitol on Capitol Hill, October 28, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Mowers also showed a clear advantage with name recognition and favorability. Mowers has 85 percent name recognition with the likely primary voters, and over half (52 percent) overall found him to be favorable, giving him a net favorability rating of plus 41.

Compared to his opponents, who showed less than half the voters knew who they were. Brown only had the name recognition of roughly half of Mowers, with only 43 percent, and only 21 percent overall who found her favorable. Leavitt only showed 31 percent name recognition, with only 12 percent overall who found her favorable.

The favorability broke down showed Mowers being viewed very favorably by Republicans, voters 40-69 years old, and high-propensity primary election voters, compared to his opponents.

The polling was done by Cygnal, a Republican polling firm, on behalf of the Mowers campaign. The sample size was comprised of 350 likely Republican primary voters in the district, from October 24 to 25. The poll had shown a margin of error of plus or minus 5.23 percent, with a 95 percent confidence level.

While polling shows Mowers with a sizeable lead over the other primary candidates, the Granite State Republican also outraised Democrat incumbent Rep. Pappas by nearly $80,000. Mowers had a massive four-week fundraising haul of $450,000, while Pappas had the entire three-month-long quarter to be outraised. Mowers outraised the closest primary opponent by over $120,000.

Democrat Chris Pappas listens during a First Congressional District candidates debate in Manchester, NH, October 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Another recent poll done by Saint Anselm College Survey Center showed a generic Republican candidate leads a generic Democrat in the same district. The poll showed only 41 percent in the district would vote for a generic Democrat candidate, compared to 48 percent who would vote for the generic Republican candidate. Four percent said they would vote for “someone else,” and seven percent were undecided.

However, the poll was only using a generic ballot and did not name Pappas or any Republicans, but the poll was a clear indication for the midterms. With the House majority on the line for Democrats, Pappas is marked as a vulnerable member who Republicans are looking to unseat in order to win the majority and oust House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), where the incumbent has voted in favor of her partisan agenda 99 percent of the time.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.

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