FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Esten Perez September 6, 2011 617.496.4009 Barbara LeBlanc 603.486.8760

INSTITUTES OF POLITICS AT HARVARD, SAINT ANSELM TO CONDUCT PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY POLLING

The Institute of Politics (IOP) at and the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm will jointly conduct public opinion research – polling and focus groups – in New Hampshire in advance of the state’s upcoming Republican presidential primary.

Polling administered this fall will assess the Republican presidential candidate field and top issues of concern among likely New Hampshire Republican Primary voters. As Harvard’s Institute of Politics has been examining the political beliefs of America’s young adults for over ten years, the fall research initiative will also include two late- September focus groups targeting New Hampshire “Millennials” (18-29 year-olds) -- one group likely to participate in the First in the Nation primary and one group that voted for President Obama in their first election in 2008.

"Harvard’s Institute of Politics and our students are excited to track public opinion leading up to the New Hampshire primary, always a critical event in the race for the White House,” said Trey Grayson, Director of Harvard’s Institute of Politics. "We are pleased to join with our National Campaign partner school Saint Anselm in this effort and examine the political views of the Granite State electorate, particularly the key younger voter demographic.”

"The NHIOP at Saint Anselm is pleased to partner with our colleagues at Harvard for this exciting series of New Hampshire public opinion polling and focus group sessions,” said Neil Levesque, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. “The IOP at Harvard Kennedy School is clearly one of the nation’s premier academic institutions for the study of politics and public policy. We are pleased that this partnership will allow Saint Anselm students to work with them on providing the world a front row seat for The First in the Nation Primary. In addition the NHIOP and the IOP will be able to provide insightful, real-time data to the media and public on changing perceptions of the candidates and opinions of New Hampshire voters for this seminal 2012 New Hampshire primary."

Saint Anselm is one of the twenty-three and universities comprising the Institute’s “National Campaign for Political and Civic Engagement,” an effort created in 2003 aiming to foster more politically and civically engaged campuses across the country.

The IOP will field its latest national poll analyzing political views of the Millennial Generation in mid-November, with results planned for release in early December.

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Harvard University’s Institute of Politics (IOP), located at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, was established in 1966 as a memorial to President Kennedy. The IOP’s mission is to unite and engage students, particularly undergraduates, with academics, politicians, activists, and policymakers on a non- partisan basis to inspire them to consider careers in politics and public service. The Institute strives to promote greater understanding and cooperation between the academic world and the world of politics and public affairs. More information is available online at www.iop.harvard.edu/.

The New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College was established in 2001 to serve as a resource for students, scholars, politicians and the general public. Founded on the premise that an engaged citizenship is vital for a healthy democracy, the institute conducts programs and research that are designed to enlighten and encourage people for a lifetime of civic participation. The institute has no alliances, formal or informal, with any political party, organization or agenda. It seeks to develop programming, and to foster scholarship and dialogue, encompassing a diverse range of political topics, opinions and issues. For more information on NHIOP news and events, please visit www.anselm.edu/nhiop.