Voters in New Hampshire went to the polls yesterday to select candidates for governor, state legislature, and the executive council.
Governor
Incumbent Governor Kelly Ayotte (R) was challenged by two candidates in the Republican primary but easily secured the party’s nomination to run for a second two-year term with approximately 91% of the vote. A former New Hampshire Attorney General, Ayotte also represented the state in the U.S. Senate from 2010 to 2016, focusing on issues that included veterans, national security, and the opioid crisis.
Campaigning on her first-term achievements, Ayotte is making her bid for reelection with a central message: keeping New Hampshire "safe, prosperous, and free." Her campaign points to new laws aimed at accelerating housing construction, increased per-student education funding, restrictions on cell-phone use in classrooms, expanded child-care assistance, and efforts to lower energy costs. Her agenda emphasizes public safety, housing affordability, education, and workforce development.
Attorney and former New Hampshire Executive Councilmember Cinde Warmington ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Her campaign is centered on making New Hampshire more affordable, with a focus on lowering the costs of housing, health care, groceries, electricity, and property taxes. Her platform also calls for repealing the state’s private-school voucher program, opposing President Trump’s policies that she says raise costs for Granite Staters, and supporting small businesses.
The Cook Political Report and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball rate the Governor’s race Likely Republican.
State Legislature
All 24 seats in the senate and all 400 seats in the nation's largest state house are up for reelection. Two senate incumbents and 99 house incumbents did not file for reelection. Republicans are favored to retain the senate, while the house is a genuine battleground: Democrats would need a net gain of only 13 seats for a majority.