Republican candidate Kelly Ayotte has emerged victorious in the 2024 New Hampshire gubernatorial race – promising to combat the heroin and fentanyl crisis, defend the Second Amendment, and enforce strict immigration laws in New Hampshire. This win marks a major political comeback for Ayotte, who will finally return to office after a high-profile tenure in the United States Senate eight years ago. 

 Chris Sununu has served as New Hampshire’s governor for four, two-year, terms. He will leave the office having worked the Republican agenda, with promises kept regarding the economy and safety in New Hampshire. Sununu is happy to pass the title on to Ms. Ayotte, who he has endorsed. “Kelly Ayotte understands that with strong fiscal management, limited government, and local control, (New Hampshire) has set the Gold Standard for the country”, Sununu wrote in August. This endorsement added to Ayotte’s political recognition, which proved hard for her opponent, who leaned strongly on her work as mayor of Manchester, to compete with. 

Joyce Craig, former Mayor of Manchester and Ayotte’s Democratic opposer, ran a strong campaign in what has been described as 2024’s most competitive gubernatorial election. Her positions on reproductive freedom, gun violence, and the environment closely aligned with many other Democratic candidates that ran this fall. Favor of Vice President Kamala Harris had grown in New Hampshire during the weeks approaching election day, giving Democrats from Pelham to Pittsburg confidence in Craig’s crusade. Much of her campaign was built on the common concern for protection of reproductive freedom, to which she criticized Kelly Ayotte heavily. In previous years, Ayotte made numerous votes as a U.S. senator to pass a national ban on abortion rights, reduce access to in vitro fertilization, and strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood. In her 2024 campaign, Ayotte promised to fight any efforts to tighten New Hampshire’s current abortion and reproductive limits. Craig had no hesitation in comparing this promise to her prior stance, stating that “Her actions speak louder than her words…we can’t trust Kelly Ayotte”. The two candidates made many other claims along the road to prompt the people of New Hampshire to question their trust in the opposer. However, when votes were tallied, Kelly Ayotte proved to have the bigger name between the two. 

When results came in on the 5th, polls showed that Ayotte took victory by 9.3%. Compared to the 2022 election, when Chris Sununu defeated Democrat Tom Sherman 57% – 41.5%, the 2024 gubernatorial was extremely close. On her loss, Joyce Craig told CBS News Boston “There are critical issues that need to be addressed in this state…we need to build more affordable housing, we need to strengthen our public schools, and we need to protect reproductive freedom”, pushing for Ayotte to continue the work she started during her campaign. Craig also stated that she spoke with Kelly Ayotte and congratulated her on her victory, and while the result is not what she had hoped for, she is proud of her campaign and the issues that her team focused on. 

 While both candidates’ policies played a crucial role in the outcome of this year’s battle for governor, the vote seems to have come down to familiarity and experience for the people of New Hampshire. This year, Kelly Ayotte will add the title of Governor to her political belt; alongside her accomplishments as New Hampshire’s first female Attorney General (2004 – 2009), and her seat in the United States Senate (2011 – 2016). After four terms with Chris Sununu, Ayotte’s promise to “keep New Hampshire on the Sununu path” seemed to provide a sense of familiarity and stability amid a chaotic election season for New Hampshire voters. In her acceptance speech on Tuesday, November 5th, Ayotte said “What an incredible victory, and it’s not my victory it’s our victory…I can tell you that we would not be here tonight if it weren’t for Governor Sununu…but we are not going to be content to rest on the success of Governor Sununu and what he has brought to our state”. Ayotte was joined by many Republican representatives, officials, and voters at The Artisan Hotel in Salem, to celebrate her victory. Cheers of excitement filled the air The Artisan whenever the WMUR election broadcast revealed a state won by Donald Trump, and the crowd sung a happy birthday song for Governor Sununu, who turned 50 the same day. In her closing statement, Ayotte said “…Together, we will work to tackle this housing crisis. Together, we will work to strengthen our mental health system. Together, we will work to make sure that New Hampshire remains a great place to raise a family, we’ll back up our teachers, and we’ll continue to improve education for all of our students.”