Ayotte wins GOP nomination for New Hampshire governor, Democrat Goodlander wins in 1st District

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte won the GOP nomination for governor in New Hampshire on Tuesday, securing a chance to succeed fellow Republican Chris Sununu, who is stepping away after four terms.

Though six candidates were competing in the Republican primary , the race largely was between Ayotte and former state Senate President Chuck Morse.

On the Democratic side, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig won the Democratic nomination for governor for a chance to flip control of the office.

The results set up a November general election in which Craig and Ayotte will vie to become the the state’s third woman elected governor, following Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan.

Ayotte, who was New Hampshire’s first female attorney general, said she is more interested in following in Sununu’s footsteps.

“Tonight demonstrates that we are unified as a party and we have the momentum to win in November. Together, we will keep New Hampshire on the Sununu path,” she said in a statement. “I will keep our state moving in the right direction and will work to ensure our future is even brighter.”

After five years as attorney general, Ayotte served one term in the U.S. Senate before narrowly losing her seat to Hassan in 2016. Since leaving Washington, she has served on several corporate and nonprofit boards. She’s focused much of her campaign stoking anti-Massachusetts sentiment with her “Don’t Mass it up” slogan, leaning less on the traditional anti-tax rhetoric and more on crime and immigration.

Morse, who led the state Senate for a decade, had hoped to return to the Statehouse after losing the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in 2022.

Three candidates were on the Democratic gubernatorial primary ballot, though the race largely was between Craig and Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington.

Craig served on the Manchester school board and board of aldermen before being elected as the city’s first female mayor in 2017. She said leading the state’s largest city for three terms gave her the experience to be governor, though critics blamed her for its ongoing struggles with homelessness and crime.

Jon Kiper, who owns a restaurant in Newmarket, also was on the ballot.

In contrast to its first-in-the-nation presidential primary, New Hampshire is among the last states to hold state-level primary elections, leaving the winners just eight weeks to woo voters before Nov. 5.

Two of the top races were extra competitive, with no incumbent running. Sununu’s decision not to seek a fifth two-year term meant the position was open for the first time since 2016. And the 2nd Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster is retiring after six terms, has not been an open seat since 2010.

Former White House aide Maggie Goodlander won the Democratic primary for Kuster's seat, defeating Colin Van Ostern , a former member of the governor’s Executive Council and unsuccessful candidate for governor and secretary of state. He had been endorsed by Kuster.

Goodlander, who is married to President Joe Biden’s national security advisor, grew up in Nashua and recently moved back there from Washington. She worked in the Justice Department as a top antitrust official and as counsel to Attorney General Merrick Garland before moving to the White House chief of staff’s office earlier this year.

Throughout the campaign, the candidates criticized each others’ pasts. Van Ostern repeatedly brought up Goodlander’s work for the late Sen. John McCain and other Republicans, while she pointed out his work at a venture capital firm.

Alex Streeter, 43, a Democrat, said he was torn but ended up voting for Goodlander.

“I’m receptive to the argument that she’s kind of carpet-bagging,” said Streeter, of Concord, an engineer. “At the same time I know that nothing happens in Washington, D.C., without knowing people and having connections, and I think that in this case, that’s going to be valuable.”

The Republican 2nd District primary included more than a dozen candidates, led by economist and author Vikram Mansharamani, anti-communist activist Lily Tang Williams and Bill Hamlen, a commodities trader.

In the 1st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas won the Democratic primary as he seeks a fourth term, defeating Kevin Rondeau, who ran in the Republican primary two years ago before switching parties.

Pappas, who considers himself a pragmatic voice in Washington, has said he expects immigration and abortion rights to be the top issues in the general election. He said the Republican primary candidates did little more than express devotion to former President Donald Trump and regurgitate anti-choice talking points.

His seat flipped five times in seven election cycles before he won his first term in 2018.

The GOP 1st District contest featured seven candidates , including former state Sen. Russell Prescott, Manchester Alderman Joseph Kelly Lavasseur and business executives Hollie Noveletsky, Chris Bright and Walter McFarlane.

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Associated Press Writer Kathy McCormack contributed to this report.