President Joe Biden in Goffstown, N.H. on March 11, 2024.

Democrats have all but owned the Granite State’s four Electoral College votes, winning seven of the past eight presidential contests – including Joe Biden’s eight-point victory over President Donald Trump in 2020.

But the latest NHJournal/Praecones Analytica poll finds Biden tied with Trump in New Hampshire, putting him at risk of becoming the first Democrat to lose the state since Al Gore in 2000.

The survey of 862 registered voters taken the week of May 15-20 found Granite Staters evenly split between Biden and Trump at 36 percent, with 14 percent backing independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and another 12 percent choosing none of these.

Those numbers may explain why Biden is making his second Granite State stop in two months, an unusual travel pattern for a Democratic president in a competitive national election. For Biden, who rarely travels far from D.C. or his Delaware beach house, it’s particularly notable.

Biden is scheduled to appear in Nashua on Tuesday. On Monday, the Biden administration announced more than $3 million in Brownfield Grants “to rehabilitate and revitalize communities in New Hampshire,” including Nashua and Jaffrey.

“This helps to put President Biden’s visit this week into greater context, as that sound you hear is the 2024 battleground map expanding for Donald Trump, seemingly putting New Hampshire in play this fall,” said veteran New Hampshire GOP strategist Jim Merrill, who worked on the Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio presidential campaigns.

According to Praecones Analytica’s Dr. Jonathan Klingler, Biden’s struggles come from his loss of support among swing voters.

“While registered voters of both parties are largely united around their nominee, independent/undeclared voters are splitting their support in four statistically indistinguishable ways: between Biden, Trump, Kennedy, and other unnamed candidates,” Klingler said.

“In comparison to exit polls from the 2020 presidential election, independent/undeclared voters in New Hampshire demonstrate significantly lower support for Biden, as Biden won around 60 percent of these voters in 2020, compared to around a quarter if the election were held today.”

Biden is struggling in the polls in several states Democrats have done well in for years. The latest numbers show Biden and Trump in a close race for Minnesota, which hasn’t backed a GOP presidential candidate since President Richard Nixon’s 1972 49-state landslide.

And in Nevada, which Democrats have carried in six of the past eight elections, Trump has a six-point lead in the RealClearPolitics average, outside the margin of error.

But a Democrat in danger of losing a state in the heart of deep-blue New England would be a bad sign for the incumbent.

Biden also has a Kennedy problem. The new poll shows Kennedy’s support among Democrats is nearly twice as high (11.2 percent) as among Republicans. (6.6 percent).

RFK, Jr. first suggested a possible presidential run at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics in March, 2023. His progressive message has a large potential audience among Democratic voters who twice picked U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for the party’s presidential nominee.

Some Granite State political pros speculated that Biden’s weakness with swing or undeclared voters may be in part from his decision to dump the First in the Nation primary and his criticism of the Granite State as not diverse enough to be allowed to hold the Democrats’ first primary.

“He spent months insulting New Hampshire, and he wonders why he’s got a problem,” one Granite State Democrat and Biden supporter told NHJournal on background. “Politically active people, our party base, we understand the big picture, but the average voter thinks he was just being a jerk to us.”

Courtesy photo

Behind Gov. Chris Sununu from left are: Laurence Gagnon Migausky, Attachée Principale, Quebec Government, Commissioner Robert Quinn, NH Department of Safety, and Director Rob Buxton, NH HSEM

Concord, NH – Today, Governor Chris Sununu and Laurence Gagnon, a representative of the Quebec government, signed a historic security agreement between the State of New Hampshire and Quebec. 

This cooperation agreement comes as new challenges related to cross-border security emerge, including an increase in illegal border crossings, and is the first security arrangement that includes border security between New Hampshire and a foreign territory.

“Quebec is an incredibly important friend, neighbor, and ally,” said Governor Chris Sununu.  “I would like to thank Premier of Quebec François Legault and his team for updating our cooperation agreement to include additional language on border security — an issue that affects both of our citizens.” 

This cooperation agreement between New Hampshire and Quebec was first signed on September 23, 2004, in Montreal by Governor Benson and Premier Charest. Today’s update includes new language to acknowledge the seriousness of the issues surrounding New Hampshire’s northern border. 

The new language reads: “AWARE of the emergence of new issues related to border security, notably the important migratory flows in North America’s northeastern region, and wishing to collaborate on finding solutions to these issues while respecting the principles of privacy, civil liberties, and human rights.”

Note: A full copy of the agreement can be found here. 

A daycare owner and three of her employees turned themselves in on child endangerment charges in New Hampshire after investigators said they were sprinkling melatonin on children’s food, Manchester Police said.

Daycare owner Sally Dreckmann, 52, and her employees Traci Innie, 51, Kaitlin Filardo, 23 and Jessica Foster, 23, of Manchester were taken into police custody after a lengthy investigation led by the Manchester Police Juvenile Division determined that they were lacing children’s food with melatonin without the consent and knowledge of their parents, the Manchester Police said Thursday.

“All four were charged with 10 counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child,” police said.

Authorities said that an investigation into the case was initiated in November 2023 after “detectives received a report alleging unsafe practices going on in an in-home daycare” in west Manchester.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing and the police have not yet detailed the course of action.

What is melatonin?

Melatonin is a “hormone that your brain produces in response to darkness,” according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), that helps with sleep.

“Melatonin supplements may help with certain conditions, such as jet lag, delayed sleep-wake phase disorder, some sleep disorders in children, and anxiety before and after surgery,” the NCCIH says.

While short-term use of melatonin supplements is considered to be safe for most people, the NCCIH recommends parents to consult a health care provider before administering it to their children as “use of over-the-counter melatonin might place children and teenagers at risk for accidental or intentional overdose.” However, information on the long-term effects of melatonin use in children is limited and parents are advised to exercise caution.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X @saman_shafiq7.