Even as former president Donald Trump was being arraigned Tuesday in New York on 34 felony criminal charges, a new poll making the rounds shows he maintains strong support in next year’s New Hampshire presidential primary.

Trump is facing charges that he falsified business records to hide a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign.

The Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll of 1,320 registered voters intending to cast ballots in the first-in-the-nation Republican primary shows Trump with 42 percent support.

The poll released Monday shows Trump leading a handful of potential candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 29 percent; Gov. Chris Sununu, 14 percent; and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, 4 percent.

N.H. Rep. David Meuse, D-Portsmouth, tweeted Tuesday in response to the poll results:

“The horse race aside, this poll shows many in the GOP remain infatuated with an approach to governing that chooses division over working together, culture wars over problem solving, and endless chaos over peace and calm.”

Sununu appeared on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” this past Friday and said he would vote for Trump should he be the next Republican presidential nominee. But he also said he doesn’t think Trump will get the nomination and, if he does, would lose the general election.

In answer to a question on whether he thinks Trump is guilty of the charges in the indictment, Sununu said, “I’m assuming he is.”

He also said Trump will gain sympathy from his political base because he’s being criminally prosecuted.

N.H. Republican Party Chairman Chris Ager tweeted Tuesday afternoon that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “has succeeded in uniting the Republican party more than anyone could have imagined. Beware of the law of unintended consequences.”

This past Thursday, Ager criticized the indictment in another tweet.

“Today’s politically motivated indictment of former President Trump is an attack by Democrats on the rule of law and a downright weaponization of the Justice system against Biden’s enemies. A fair and impartial legal system is essential to protect the rule of law.”

U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., said in a statement Tuesday that “no one is above the law.

“We must allow the judicial process to play out, as it is designed to, without interference.”

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., also spoke in support of the legal system.

“Former President Trump is entitled to the same rights as every American under our legal system,” she said in a prepared statement. “His case should be free from political interference, and I urge calm and peace from all observers as this process moves forward.”

Former N.H. Senate president Tom Eaton of Spofford, a Republican, said he has questions about the prosecution of Trump.

“I think they are trying to stretch some of the statutes,” he said. “We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out.

“Trump has his flaws but had great moments also. I disagreed with his disposition and many comments, but I was 100 percent in agreement with his policies.”

Jerry Sickels, vice chairman of the Keene Republican Committee, noted that the Manhattan case is just one of the hurdles Trump is facing.

A state prosecutor in Georgia is considering allegations Trump tried to overturn the 2020 general election results in that state. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating Trump’s actions in the 2020 presidential election and his keeping highly classified documents after departing the White House.

“This is the first of the legal difficulties he’s going to go through and the consensus among Republicans is that this is the weakest of all the cases,” Sickels said. “It’s kind of a sad day for the country. I hope we haven’t crossed the Rubicon on something.

“This could make it easier for a Republican district attorney to go after a future Democratic president and that’s not good for the country. I hope we haven’t created a monster here.”

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.

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