Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte outperformed the rest of her party to win the race for New Hampshire governor, handily defeating former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and keeping the Corner Office in GOP hands for at least two more years.
“When I announced this campaign, I said that we were one election away from becoming Massachusetts,” Ayotte told supporters who packed a ballroom at the Tuscan Village in Salem to celebrate her win. “Well, guess what? Not on my watch.”
After her impressive 30-point win over former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Morse in the September 10 primary, Ayotte held a modest but resilient lead of about three points over Craig throughout the campaign. Her performance at the polls nearly doubled that with a seven-point win.
How big was Ayotte’s victory? She won the city of Manchester where Craig served as mayor for three terms.
Craig took the stage at her election watch party in Concord around 9:45 p.m. to tell supporters she was conceding the election to Ayotte.
Former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig concedes the 2024 NH Governor’s race to Kelly Ayotte.
“Earlier tonight, I spoke to Kelly Ayotte and congratulated her on her victory. And while tonight isn’t the result we wanted, I am proud of our campaign and the issues we focused on.”
It was an interesting choice of words, given that her decision to focus on bringing back a state income tax on interest and dividends is widely believed to have contributed to her defeat. She also attempted to link Ayotte to former President Donald Trump — her frequent campaign companion Gov. Maura Healey said, “Kelly Ayotte equals Donald Trump — but it didn’t work.
Neither did an estimated $5 million in attack ads targeting Ayotte on the abortion issue.
Ayotte was gracious in victory.
“You know, I want to thank Joyce Craig for running a very good and spirited campaign,” Ayotte told her supporters. “I received a very gracious call, and I am so appreciative of that — that is very much the New Hampshire way.”
Ayotte also ran an aggressive campaign that relied heavily on attack ads. She kicked off her candidacy with the rallying cry, “Don’t MASS up New Hampshire,” and repeatedly linked Craig to the policies of Healey and deep-blue Massachusetts.
“Kelly Ayotte’s whole thing was ‘Don’t MASS up New Hampshire.’ So, what does Joyce Craig do? She’s campaigning the last day, again with Healey, and that wound up playing right into Kelly’s hands,” said state GOP chair Chris Ager.
Craig continued to do her part to advance Ayotte’s argument, even after all the votes were cast.
According to Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman Steve Kerrigan, Healey was still in New Hampshire Tuesday night even as incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was delivering a victory speech of her own in Boston.
“She’s trying to make her way,” he reportedly told Warren supporters who were expecting a Healey appearance.
Between the joint fundraising trips to California and the Berkshires, and Healey’s seemingly nonstop canvassing in New Hampshire during the final weeks, there was more than enough anti-Massachusetts fodder for Ayotte to work with.
Ayotte’s top campaign surrogate was outgoing Republican Gov. Chris Sununu. Sununu, who was in the room Tuesday night, was also celebrating his 50th birthday. Ayotte said she wouldn’t have prevailed without Sununu’s support.
“I like to call him the 603 guy, and I can tell you we would not be here tonight if it weren’t for Gov. Sununu,”
Kelly Ayotte casting her vote on Election Day, 2024
(CREDIT: JEFFREY HASTINGS)
Ayotte said.
Early on, the numbers coming in indicated a good night for Ayotte, including picking up votes in blue precincts. Democrats carried Manchester’s Ward 11, for example, by nearly 300 votes in 2016, the last time there was an open governor’s race (and Trump was at the top of the ticket). Tuesday night, however, the same ward went to Ayotte.
Other early signs included several towns won by Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris – yet those same towns were also being picked up by Ayotte and not Craig.
And while Harris took New Hampshire – and Democrats retained both Congressional districts – Granite State Republicans had a lot to be happy about.
Ager told NHJournal that despite being massively outspent, the party’s “two year plan” to keep the governor’s office, a majority on the Executive Council, and expand their majorities in the legislature were “the number one priority.”
“I even think the presidential race was close enough to help us,” Ager said. “And New Hampshire was never that much a part of the national campaign.
“The Democrats brought in, what, at least 11 national party figures? We got one visit—from (U.S. Sen.) JD Vance. New Hampshire was never part of the national party’s scenario to win, so we didn’t get a lot of money here, but the other guys (Democrats) sure did.”
Adam Abbas, whose younger brother is state Sen. Daryl Abbas (R-Salem), told NHJournal he initially worried the onslaught of television ads targeting Ayotte might tip the scale in favor of Craig.
“I was only nervous about this specific campaign because of the amount of propaganda that was coming out,” he said. “I’m watching these commercials, they obviously cost a ton of money, and I’m thinking they’re pretty good.
“I was on edge all night up until now. Usually, I’m a little more relaxed in the governor’s race. But now I’m just so thrilled and happy because I just have this great feeling for the future of New Hampshire with Kelly leading.”
In her remarks, Ayotte said she hopes to bridge any lingering partisan divide after “a hard-fought election with strong opinions on both sides.”
“I want you to know that I will be the governor for all the people, and please know this — even when we don’t see eye-to-eye, I will always look for ways for us to come together, to work together on a bipartisan basis, to tackle the challenges facing this state, because New Hampshire is so much more important than one person, one party.
“We have a wonderful, beautiful, great state, and I look forward to bringing us all together to make our great state even better.”
Earlier Tuesday evening, Ayotte’s uncle, Mike Sullivan of Nashua, told NHJournal he had a “good feeling” his niece would wind up winning.
He also shared a story about how Ayotte as an elementary school student in Nashua.
“Kelly used to get held back after class in first grade by Mrs. Sharp for talking too much,” Sullivan said. “She’s always had that gift of gab. She’s meant for this.”
After he left the stage Tuesday night, a visibly emotional Sullivan was almost at a loss for words.
“It just felt so great to be up on that stage tonight, I could not be prouder of Kelly.”
