Supporters of Dem Senate candidate try to block Ayotte crowd from entering New Hampshire debate hall

Ahead of Wednesday night's Senate debate in New Hampshire, supporters of both Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte and her Democratic challenger, Maggie Hassan, gathered outside Saint Anselm College's Institute of Politics. But when it came time for everyone to enter the venue, Hassan's backers weren't too keen on letting the incumbent lawmaker's supporters in.

Sign viz madness at @nhiop #nhsen #nhpolitics #WMUR pic.twitter.com/fMSI58Xy5v

— Adam Sexton (@AdamSextonWMUR) November 2, 2016

In fact, the Democratic supporters did everything they could to block Ayotte's fans — even stretching a blue makeshift rope across the road to corral the Republican voters in an attempt to push them away from the debate hall.

Given nearly all of the event attendees — both Republican and Democratic — were carrying large signs in support of their respective candidate, the stunt caused quite a mess. A few Ayotte supporters were able to get past the rope while several others were trapped and could be seen tripping on the barrier.

The rope trick seemed to be carried out by only a few people, who even ended up catching a few of Hassan's supporters in the process. It doesn't appear anyone was seriously hurt by the move.