Republican Kelly Ayotte wins New Hampshire governor

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Kelly Ayotte addresses a crowd of supporters in Salem at an election night victory party. / NHPR

This piece originally appeared as part of NPR's live coverage of the 2024 election. For more election coverage from the NPR Network head to our live updates page.

SALEM, N.H. — Voters in New Hampshire have elected Republican Kelly Ayotte, a former U.S. senator and state attorney general, as their next governor, according to a race call by the Associated Press.

Ayotte beat Democrat Joyce Craig in what was described as the country’s most competitive 2024 gubernatorial election this year.

Their battle to replace outgoing GOP Gov. Chris Sununu, who is stepping down after four terms, smashed state spending records, and featured both candidates repeatedly arguing the other “can’t be trusted” on issues ranging from taxes and abortion to immigration and housing.

Throughout the race, Ayotte has promised to “keep New Hampshire on the Sununu path” while criticizing Craig’s performance during her three terms as Manchester mayor, including in graphic campaign ads portraying the state’s largest city as beset by crime and homelessness.

More: New Hampshire election results

Craig meanwhile assailed Ayotte’s voting record in the Senate, where in 2015 she voted for a bill to outlaw most abortions after 20 weeks. In her previous bids for office, Ayotte ran as an opponent to abortion rights. She’s now promising to fight any effort to tighten New Hampshire’s current abortion limits, which allow the procedure for any reason up to 24 weeks.

“Her actions speak louder than her words,” Craig said during a recent debate. “We can’t trust Kelly Ayotte.”

Ayotte’s relationship with former President Donald Trump is complicated: She renounced her support for him in 2016 after the release of the Access Hollywood footage, but months later, after narrowly losing her re-election, Ayotte returned to Capitol Hill to assist the Trump administration.

During this race, Ayotte endorsed Trump while keeping her distance.

Ayotte has meanwhile worked to cast doubt on Craig’s politics – including her promise to oppose new broad-based taxes – by criticizing her opponent’s ties to Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a New Hampshire native who has repeatedly traveled there to campaign at Craig’s side.