Another poll shows Bachmann gain in New Hampshire

WASHINGTON - A new poll shows GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann drawing 18 percent support in New Hampshire in the Republican presidential primary race, only seven points behind Mitt Romney, who has consistently led polls in the Granite State and owns a home there.

The PPP poll has Bachmann gaining 14 percent support since the company's last New Hampshire poll in April. Meanwhile, Romney's support dropped 12 percent.

PPP says Bachmann's support in New Hampshire, which is host to the nation's first presidential primary in 2012, comes from tea party supporters. The company says Bachmann's net favorability ratings are the strongest among the presidential contenders with 64 percent of respondents holding a favorable impression of the 6th District Congresswoman compared to just 24 percent holding an unfavorable impression.

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty remains toward the back of the pack of contenders with 6 percent support, tied with Jon Huntsman, who only recently announced his campaign, and two points ahead of Newt Gingrich, whose campaign staff resigned en masse last month.

Bachmann has appeared to be concentrating her resources on winning two other early voting states, Iowa and South Carolina, where social conservatives hold more sway, rather than New Hampshire, which has a strong libertarian and fiscally conservative bent.

PPP surveyed 341 New Hampshire Republicans who say they'll vote in the primaries. It conducted the poll between June 30th and July 5th (with a break on the 3rd and 4th of July). The poll's margin of error is +/- 5.3 percent. The full results and methodology are available here.

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