Meanwhile, the newly minted Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, plans to stump in the Portsmouth area Wednesday. Trump last visited the state in January.
Granite State Republicans once bullish about a Trump victory now feel more apprehensive. Some argue the enthusiasmaround the Harris-Walz ticketstems from a new-nominee high that will diminish as voters see more. Others are focusing their efforts on New Hampshire’s competitive down-ballot races as presidential surveys there have swung back in Democrats’ favor.
A Trump banner hung between two trees on Route 202 in Peterborough, N.H.
Kayla Bartkowski For The Boston
Fred Doucette, Trump’s New Hampshire co-chair in 2016 and 2020, echoing numerous other N.H. Trump supporters,said winning the state “is still a possibility, but it all has to be done correctly; everybody has to be rolling in the same direction.”
“As much as we’re not a priority by any stretch of the imagination, we’re also not the red-headed stepchild either. These four votes matter — just ask Bush,” he added,referring to the 2000 election in which a New Hampshire victory proved decisive for George W. Bush.
On Tuesday, Trump took to social media to proclaim his commitment to New Hampshire, where a 2016 primary victory helped launch him to the White House. He remindedvoters that Republicans respected its first-in-the-nation primarystatus while Democrats pushed the contest later in the nominating calendar.
“Kamala Harris sees there are problems for her campaign in New Hampshire because of the fact that they disrespected it in their primary and never showed up,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s lack of visibility in the state, however, extends beyond his personalabsence. The last major campaign surrogate to visit New Hampshire wasNorth Dakota Governor Doug Burgum in April. Several high-profile Democrats stumped for Biden and thenHarris this summer, including Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker last weekend. Biden visited several times before dropping out. The Trump campaign and its allies spent less than$4,000 on advertising in New Hampshire in August, according to AdImpact, a media tracking firm. By comparison, they spent nearly $11 million in January ahead of the primary.
The Trump campaign office in Manchester, when visited by a Globe reporter, was decorated with Trump signage that did not include his running mate, US Senator JD Vance of Ohio. A spokesperson for the Republican National Committee said the party had “several staff” in New Hampshire but did not specifyhow many. The Harris campaign said its coordinated campaign effort, which shares spacewith local party operations, has 17 field offices.
Trump’s viability came under further scrutiny when Tom Mountain, then a vice chair for Trump’s Massachusetts operation, wrote in an email to volunteers Sunday claimingthe campaign had “determined that New Hampshire is no longer a battleground state.” Trump officials refuted theclaim.
Many Republicans acknowledge Harris is a more formidable opponent than Biden, who was doggedby concerns about his age andability to serve another four years.
“She has the policy baggage, but she doesn’t have that age thing working against her, and that was a big motivating factor in tamping down Democratic enthusiasm,” said Scott Maltzie, the Merrimack County GOP chairman.
Maltzie and others argue Harris’s support has beenfueled by relief over Biden dropping out. They, alongside national Republicans, believe messaging on prominent issues such as the economy and border security will weaken her appeal.
“Every new candidate gets a honeymoon period, then [she’ll get] a little bit of convention hangover, and then they’re just going to hope and pray that will carry them all the way through … November,” said Ross Berry, who served as New Hampshire director for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid. “It could run out of steam.”
New Hampshire Republican Party chairman Chris Ager said they planned to remind voters of Harris’s unsuccessful 2020 run, including how Biden “destroyed” her in the primary, and the more progressive positions she supported.
Much of Trump’s New Hampshire presence comes from grassroots support. A state Senate candidate hosted a viewing last monthof “Hillbilly Elegy,” the movie based on the bestselling book by Vance. Supporters have marched with Trump signs in local parades and participated in car “Trump trains.”
Crissy Kantor, the campaign’s Manchester chair, said they were “just getting going” with phone banking and canvassing efforts. The N.H. Trumpcampaign headquarters onTuesdayhosted a “kickoff training for Trump Force 47″ featuring Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski.
“I’m going to vote on policy, even if I don’t like the person, and I hope other people can do that,” Kantor said. “I do think [Trump]can tone it down, but when you’ve been thrown so many things … how do you not fight back?”
Some predict Trump will have trouble winning over substantial numbers of independent voters, who comprise 37 percent of the electorate, saying his penchant for personal attacks could be a turn off for them. He’s called Harris “defective,” reposted crude sexual remarks, and questioned her racial identity. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu in August wrote an op-ed urging Republicans to “stop the trash talk.”
“All he’s done in the last month is reinforce doubts about him that I think many centrist voters have, people who may not normally be inclined to support a Democrat and who had reservations about Joe Biden,” said Fergus Cullen, a former state GOP chairman who opposes Trump. “Harris has put all of those voters back into a position where she can earn their support.”
Fractures among Republicans remain, including some Nikki Haley supporters who callTrump’s efforts to reach them lackluster. Jeanene Cooper, a New Hampshire co-chair for Haley’s campaign who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, said she was considering writing in Haley for president after Trump’s attacks during the primary, including his commentthat Haley donors would be “permanently barred from the MAGA camp.”
Haley’s plea at the Republican National Convention for her supporters to back Trump briefly inspired Cooper to vote for him.That feeling evaporated during Trump’s acceptancespeech.
“He did nothing to reach out to people like me and just again talked about himself and his grievances,” Cooper said. “I’m just tired about it being about him and not about the American people.”
The Harris campaign, meanwhile, is courting disaffected Haley voters as part of its “Republicans for Harris” initiative.
At the Hopkinton State Fair in Contoocook, N.H., Friday, signs of Trump support abounded: Severalbooths sold merchandiseincluding bobbleheads in his likeness and T-shirts with images of when he was shot.Ardent fans bought tickets in hopes of winning a painting of the former president surrounded by a ring of guns.
But most of the 20 fairgoers approached by a reporter as they waitedin lines for rides and food vendors said they were enthusiastically backing Harris, reinvigorated by Biden’s departure. Those who weren’t expressed doubts about Trump’s electability in the state.
“I liked him at first, but his mouth gets in the way,” said Kathy Kierstead, a 65-year-old from Henniker, N.H., who supported Trump in 2020. “If he can calm it down, they might be able to do it, but if he doesn’t, I don’t think he’ll win.”
Emma Platoff of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Anjali Huynh can be reached at [email protected].
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