The governor of Pennsylvania is campaigning for Joyce Craig in New Hampshire

“I think it’s the most important battleground gubernatorial race in the entire country,” he said.

Shapiro gave a brief pep talk to a few dozen Democrats who held signs under cloudy skies, prompting drivers to honk on Route 101 in Bedford.

“You are making a difference,” Shapiro told the group. “You are saving our democracy. They’re electing a damn good governor who’s going to get everything done here in New Hampshire.”

Hours earlier, Shapiro had joined Craig for a joint appearance at Gibson's Bookstore in Concord, where he delivered a similar message to a small crowd.

“I’m very hopeful and optimistic,” he said.

When asked about the latest polls, Shapiro said he wasn't worried about the presidential election in New Hampshire.

“Remember, I’m from Pennsylvania, where races are settled by less than one percentage point, so that’s not a concern for us,” he said. “We go out and work and we expect the races to be close. They should be.”

A new poll released Wednesday evening by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center found Craig Ayotte trailing, albeit by a narrow margin. Of likely voters, 49 percent said they would choose Ayotte and 46 percent said they would choose Craig if the election were held now, while 3 percent are still undecided, by a margin of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.

The results show Ayotte appears to be performing better in her race than former President Donald J. Trump did in his race in New Hampshire, something Ayotte will likely have to do on Tuesday to win. The poll showed Trump at 46 percent and Vice President Kamala D. Harris leading likely voters in New Hampshire at 51 percent, while just 1 percent are still undecided.

Neil Levesque, executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, said the poll showed Harris has “a solid lead” in the state.

New Hampshire isn't considered a presidential battleground this year, but it's the toughest contest in New England, and the Harris campaign isn't exactly taking that for granted. The candidate herself campaigned in the state in September, and President Biden visited this month in his official capacity to tout his administration's work to reduce Medicare drug spending.

Shapiro, who was considered the main candidate to become Harris' running mate before Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota was tapped for the role, is arguably the most prominent surrogate for Harris' campaign and the Democrats right now.

Another high-profile surrogate, former President William J. Clinton, will be in New Hampshire on Friday, according to a Harris-Walz campaign official.

Trump's campaign, meanwhile, exudes confidence. Karoline Leavitt, a national spokeswoman for Trump's campaign, said during a Wednesday morning appearance on the radio show “Good Morning NH with Jack Heath” that she believes Trump can win New Hampshire, her home state.

Trump announced in September that he would visit New Hampshire again before the election, but he has not visited the state since the presidential primary in January. And he is unlikely to return in the final days of the campaign.

“It could be possible,” Leavitt said Wednesday, “that someone from the Trump-Vance faction appears in the Granite State.”

Sean M. Spicer, who served as White House press secretary during the Trump administration, claimed on social media Wednesday that New Hampshire is “in play.”

“If Trump can do this early on election night, it will be a major victory,” Spicer wrote.

That doesn't seem to be the most likely scenario, according to Andrew E. Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, which plans to conduct another preelection poll this weekend.

“I just don’t think New Hampshire is one of the states that the Trump campaign is really focused on,” Smith said. “There are enough other states that are closer together that they need to win before they start worrying about a state like New Hampshire.”

Steven Porter can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @reporterporter. Amanda Gokee can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @amanda_gokee.