Current:Home > ContactNew Hampshire primary voters to pick candidates for short but intense general election campaigns -SecureWealth Bridge
New Hampshire primary voters to pick candidates for short but intense general election campaigns
View
Date:2025-04-18 20:43:35
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire primary voters are picking candidates for governor, Congress and the entire state Legislature on Tuesday, setting the stage for short but intense general election campaigns.
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 are extra competitive, with no incumbent running. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu’s decision not to seek a fifth two-year term means the position is 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.
Six candidates are competing in the Republican gubernatorial primary, led by former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte and former state Senate president Chuck Morse. The other candidates are Shaun Fife, Robert McClory, Richard McMenamon and Frank Staples.
Ayotte, who was also New Hampshire’s first female attorney general, would be the third woman to be elected governor, following Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan. Much of her campaign centered on “Don’t Mass it up,” an anti-Massachusetts slogan, as she focused more on crime and immigration issues and less on traditional anti-tax rhetoric.
Morse, who led the state Senate for a decade, is hoping to return to the Statehouse after losing the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in 2022. He has sought to align himself closely with former President Donald Trump, criticizing Ayotte for rescinding her endorsement of Trump in 2016 before backing him this year.
On the Democratic side, voters are choosing from among three candidates, though the race is largely between former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and Cinde Warmington, a member of the Executive Council of New Hampshire. Restaurant owner Jon Kiper lagged far behind in both fundraising and name recognition.
Craig also served on the Manchester school board and board of aldermen before being elected the city’s first female mayor. She says leading the state’s largest city for three terms gives her the experience to be governor, though critics blame her for its ongoing struggles with homelessness and crime.
Warmington, a lawyer, is in her second term on the Executive Council, a five-member panel that approves state contracts and judicial and state agency nominations. As the lone Democrat, she frequently opposes positions taken by fellow members and the governor, particularly on matters related to health care and education. She has been criticized for her past work as a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry.
The other high-profile races are in the Democratic-leaning 2nd Congressional District.
In the Democratic primary, Kuster has endorsed former staffer Colin Van Ostern, who is also a former executive councilor who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2016. He faces strong competition from Maggie Goodlander, who grew up in New Hampshire but has spent most of her adult life in Washington, most recently at the Justice Department and the White House.
The Republican primary includes more than a dozen candidates, led by economist and author Vikram Mansharamani, anti-communist activist Lily Tang Williams and Bill Hamlen, a commodities trader.
What to know about the 2024 Election
- Today’s news: Follow live updates from the campaign trail from the AP.
- Ground Game: Sign up for AP’s weekly politics newsletter to get it in your inbox every Monday.
- AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.
In the 1st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas faces no significant challenge in the Democratic primary as he seeks a fourth term. The GOP contest features seven candidates, including former state Sen. Russell Prescott, Manchester Alderman Joseph Kelly Lavasseur and business executives Hollie Noveletsky, Chris Bright and Walter McFarlane.
veryGood! (6)
Related
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Appointed by Trump, Hunter Biden trial judge spent most of her career in civil law
- Man pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in death of fiancee who went missing
- Probe launched after Jewish student group omitted from New Jersey high school yearbook
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- UFO investigation launched in Japan after U.S. report designates region as hotspot for sightings
- 2024 cicada map: Where to find Brood XIII, Brood XIX around the Midwest and Southeast
- Prosecutor won’t file criminal charges over purchase of $19K lectern by Arkansas governor’s office
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- France's intel agency detains Ukrainian-Russian man suspected of planning violent act after he injured himself in explosion
Ranking
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- Former astronaut William Anders, who took iconic Earthrise photo, killed in Washington plane crash
- Bill requiring safe storage of firearms set to become law in Rhode Island
- Internet group sues Georgia to block law requiring sites to gather data on sellers
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Why I Ditched My 10-Year-Old Instant Film Camera For This Portable Photo Printer
- Gay man says Qatar authorities lured him via dating app, planted drugs and subjected him to unfair trial
- State rejects health insurers’ pleas to halt plan that will shake up coverage for 1.8 million Texans
Recommendation
Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
U.S. sanctions powerful Ecuador crime gang Los Lobos and its leader Pipo
YouTuber charged in video showing women shooting fireworks at Lamborghini from helicopter
Lana Del Rey Shares Conversation She's Had With Taylor Swift So Many Times
Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
1,900 New Jersey ballots whose envelopes were opened early must be counted, judge rules
United States men's national soccer team friendly vs. Colombia: How to watch, rosters
Shark spits out spiky land-loving creature in front of shocked scientists in Australia