Former US Sen. Ayotte to face former Manchester Mayor Craig in New Hampshire governor’s race

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire will elect a female governor for the third time in November after former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig won their respective primaries Tuesday.

The governor’s office is an open seat for the first time since 2016 thanks to Republican Gov. Chris Sununu’s decision against seeking a fifth two-year term.

Though six candidates were competing in the Republican primary, the race largely was between Ayotte and former state Senate President Chuck Morse, while on the Democratic side, Craig had the most competition from Cinde Warmington, a member of the governor’s Executive Council.

New Hampshire has elected two female governors, both of whom are now in the U.S. Senate — Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan. But Ayotte, who was New Hampshire’s first female attorney general, said she is more interested in following in Sununu’s footsteps.

“Over the last eight years under Gov. Sununu’s leadership, this state has been rocking it,” she told supporters in Manchester. “And this election is about making sure New Hampshire remains that way.”

Craig served on the Manchester school board and board of aldermen before being elected as the city’s first female mayor in 2017. She said leading the state’s largest city for three terms gives her the experience to be governor, though critics blamed her for its ongoing struggles with homelessness and crime.

In remarks to supporters, Craig said she is prepared to tackle the state’s housing crisis, strengthen public schools and expand access to reproductive health care. She also accused Ayotte of lying about her record.

“The last thing our state needs is a governor pitting people and communities against each other,” Craig said. “She is the most extreme threat to reproductive freedoms our state has ever seen and is too dangerous for New Hampshire. But I know that with all of your hard work and support, we will win in November and create a brighter future for our state.”

After five years as attorney general, Ayotte served one term in the U.S. Senate before narrowly losing her seat to Hassan in 2016. She focused much of her campaign on stoking anti-Massachusetts sentiment with her “Don’t Mass it up” slogan, leaning less on the traditional anti-tax rhetoric and more on crime and immigration.

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.

As in the governor’s race, there was no incumbent running in the 2nd Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster is retiring after six terms. The seat has not been open since 2010.

Former White House aide Maggie Goodlander won the Democratic primary for that seat, defeating former Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern, who previously ran for governor and secretary of state and had been endorsed by Kuster.

Goodlander, who is married to President Joe Biden’s national security advisor, grew up in Nashua and recently moved back there from Washington. She worked in the Justice Department as a top antitrust official and as counsel to Attorney General Merrick Garland before moving to the White House chief of staff’s office earlier this year.

“I got into this campaign to fight for our freedoms, our economic freedom, the freedom to vote and absolutely the freedom for us to have control over own bodies,” Goodlander told supporters in Nashua. “In Congress, I am going to approach every single day, every single vote, by asking myself a very simple question: What is this going to mean for the people of the Second District?”

In the Republican 2nd District primary, second-time candidate Lily Tang Williams defeated a dozen opponents to finish first this time.

A native of China who became a U.S. citizen, Tang Williams calls herself the embodiment of the American Dream. A longtime GOP activist, she said she wants to go to Congress to keep that dream alive and to tackle inflation, the border crisis and the weaponization of government.

“I think her story is without parallel,” said voter Philip Cistulli, of Concord. “That and her fierceness and her commitment to upholding the Constitution and the freedoms we hold dear in this country.”

In the 1st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas won the Democratic primary as he seeks a fourth term, defeating Kevin Rondeau, who ran in the Republican primary two years ago before switching parties.

Pappas, who considers himself a pragmatic voice in Washington, has said he expects immigration and abortion rights to be the top issues in the general election. He said the Republican primary candidates did little more than express devotion to former President Donald Trump and regurgitate anti-abortion talking points.

His seat flipped five times in seven election cycles before he won his first term in 2018.

Former state Sen. Russell Prescott won the Republican nomination in the 1st Congressional District.

Prescott, who lost the same primary two years ago, defeated six other Republicans, including Joseph Kelly Levasseur, Chris Bright, Holly Noveletsky and Walter McFarlane.

Prescott, an engineer who owns a company that makes water treatment systems, said he has always found new ways to solve problems, whether in his business or at the Statehouse, and would continue doing so in Washington.

He touted his lengthy experience in Concord, including five terms in the state Senate and two terms on the governor’s Executive Council, which approves state contracts.

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Associated Press Writer Kathy McCormack contributed to this report.

Holly Ramer, The Associated Press