Former New Hamsphire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig are advancing to the general election to fill the open seat for the governor‘s mansion this November left vacant by outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH).
The Associated Press called the race for Ayotte at 8 p.m. on Tuesday night right after the polls closed. Ayotte won with 69% of the vote, with former Republican state Senate President Chuck Morse receiving 27.9%.
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On the Democratic side, Craig won with 48.7% of the vote compared to New Hampshire Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington with 41.4%. The Associated Press called the race at 9:48 p.m. The race was significantly closer than anticipated, as Craig had a steady lead over Warmington in polls ahead of the primary.
New Hampshire is one of two battleground states holding governor races this year, with the Granite State’s gubernatorial contest expected to be competitive due to the state’s purple history. While voting for the Democratic presidential candidate for the last five elections, it also elected Sununu, a centrist, to the governor’s mansion four times. The state’s four-person congressional delegation is all Democrats, but the state legislature is controlled by Republicans.
The Democratic race proved to be more nasty than the Republican primary, with Craig and her allies attacking Warmington for her past as a lobbyist for Purdue Pharma, the company accused of pushing the addictive OxyContin drug. Given that the opioid crisis is a substantial issue among Granite State voters, it set Warmington up for a narrow loss.
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The governor’s race is Ayotte’s chance for a political comeback after she lost her Senate reelection bid in 2016 by just over 1,000 votes. Craig is likely to try and tie Ayotte to former President Donald Trump, though Ayotte has worked to distance herself from Trump and paint it as a strength in a state that hasn’t voted for a Republican president in over 20 years.
The Cook Political Report rates New Hampshire’s gubernatorial race as a “toss-up.” The presidential race is rated “likely Democratic.” The other gubernatorial battleground state is North Carolina where Democratic state attorney general Josh Stein is facing Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to succeed term-limed Roy Cooper (D).