In the year's most hotly contested gubernatorial race, Republicans are defending the gubernatorial position in the battleground state of New Hampshire, and the showdown has drawn national attention and large sums of outside funding.
The Fox News Decision Desk predicts Republican candidate former Sen. Kelly Ayotte to defeat Democratic candidate Joyce Craig, former mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire's largest city.
Ayotte will replace popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu. After winning the gubernatorial election and serving four consecutive two-year terms, he decided not to run for re-election. [New Hampshire and neighboring Vermont are the only states in the U.S. that elect governors every two years.]
Ayotte, a former state attorney general who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 but narrowly lost re-election six years later, easily defeated a slew of rivals to win the Republican nomination in early September. He won the nomination over Sindh Warmington Executive Councilor. to win the Democratic nomination.
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Republican gubernatorial candidate former Sen. Kelly Ayotte is surrounded by supporters as she files her candidacy at the Secretary of State's office on June 13, 2024 in Concord, New Hampshire. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
New Hampshire is traditionally the first state in the nation to hold its presidential primary, but the state's primary is one of the last in the election calendar, and the race is heating up in the run-up to the general election. Become.
The NDP spent millions on the campaign, targeting Ayotte for her Senate vote on abortion a decade ago and her support this year for former President Trump, who he repudiated after losing the 2016 election. Paid a million dollars into it.
Ayotte and her Republican allies also heavily targeted Craig over crime and homelessness during her tenure running city government in Manchester, New Hampshire's largest city.
Ayotte then made the rallying cry, “Don't democratize New Hampshire,” a reference to neighboring Massachusetts, where Democrats control the state government and majority of the Congressional delegation.
New Hampshire Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig speaks to voters in Concord, New Hampshire, on October 6. (Joyce Craig Governor's Election)
Ayotte was a rising star in the Republican Party in 2016, when her focus on national security soared.
But just before the 2016 election, she withdrew her support for Trump over the “Access Hollywood” controversy. The controversy revolves around Trump making some very vulgar comments about grabbing women without their consent in a video from several years ago.
“I cannot and will not support a presidential candidate who brags about degrading and assaulting women,” Ayotte said at the time.
Ayotte lost re-election to then-Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan by just over 1,000 votes.
But in New Hampshire, Ayotte narrowly beat Trump, with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton leading the White House winner by less than 3,000 votes.
Before retiring full-time to New Hampshire, Ayotte spent a short time in Washington after her term ended, managing then-Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch (Trump's first high court nominee) in the Senate. Guided the successful approval process.
Mr. Ayotte enjoyed a lucrative period in his post-Senate career, serving on boards and in advisory roles for both public and private companies. That included News Corp., the former parent company of Fox News.
Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire's Republican gubernatorial candidate, speaks to voters at the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival. (Kelly Ayotte Campaign)
During that time, Ayotte also paid close attention to New Hampshire politics, appearing occasionally at rallies. republican party happenings in the state. She also continued to write opinion pieces on major state, national, and international issues.
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Ayotte announced her candidacy for governor last year after Sununu announced she would not seek re-election in 2024.
Ayotte remained neutral in New Hampshire's first presidential primary, but endorsed Trump in early March, shortly after Trump won the Republican nomination.
To protect the security of the country, he will resolve the disaster on our southern border, and we are also witnessing a disaster on our northern border,” Ayotte told FOX News Digital in a June interview.
Ayotte's main opponent in the Republican primary, former state Senate President Chuck Morse, has emphasized his support for Trump and highlighted Ayotte's past criticisms of former presidents.
However, in the New Hampshire Senate primary, Mr. Ayotte overwhelmingly defeated Mr. Morse and other Republicans, and Mr. Trump remained neutral.
The former president, who was far behind in the Granite State polls, avoided the state in the general election and placed only minimal resources in New Hampshire.
This means that, aside from the strong support she received from the Republican Governors Association, Ayotte was largely on her own when she ran against Craig in the general election.
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