The 2012 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the

2012 U.S. presidential election The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-el ...

, U.S. House elections, and various state and local elections. Four-term incumbent governor John Lynch was eligible to seek a fifth term. In the fall of 2011, Lynch announced that he would retire rather than run for re-election. On September 11, 2012, Democrat

Maggie Hassan Margaret Coldwell Hassan (; née Wood; born February 27, 1958) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from New Hampshire. A Democrat, Hassan was elected to the Senate in 2016 while serving as the 81st ...

and Republican

Ovide Lamontagne Ovide Marc Lamontagne (born 1957) is an American businessman who serves as a shareholder at Bernstein Shur law firm in Manchester, New Hampshire. Lamontagne is a lawyer and a Republican former political candidate who was his party's nominee for ...

defeated primary opponents to win their parties' nominations. Hassan won the election while carrying every county in the state and began the two-year term on January 3, 2013.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Jackie Cilley Jacalyn L. Cilley (born August 5, 1951) is a former Democratic member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing the Strafford 4th District, and a former member of the New Hampshire Senate for the 6th district. Biography Ja ...

, former state Senator *

, former majority leader of the

New Hampshire Senate The New Hampshire Senate has been meeting since 1784. It is the upper house of the New Hampshire General Court, alongside the lower New Hampshire House of Representatives. It consists of 24 members representing Senate districts based on population ...

* Bill Kennedy, firefighter and retired

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

officer

Declined

Mark Connolly Mark Gerard Connolly (born 16 December 1991) is an Irish footballer who plays for Derry City. He has previously played for Bolton Wanderers, St Johnstone, Macclesfield Town, Crawley Town, Kilmarnock, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic and ...

, former director of the New Hampshire's Bureau of Securities Regulation * Tom Ferrini, mayor of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Gary Hirshberg Gary Hirshberg (born 1954) is an American businessman. He is the former chief executive officer of Stonyfield Farm, the world's leading organic yogurt producer, based in Londonderry, New Hampshire. He joined the company just after its founding i ...

, chairman and former CEO of

Stonyfield Farm Stonyfield Farm, also simply called Stonyfield, is an organic yogurt maker and dairy company located in Londonderry, New Hampshire, United States. Stonyfield Farm was founded by Samuel Kaymen in 1983, on a 19th-century farmstead in Wilton, New H ...

* John Lynch, incumbent governor *

Steve Marchand Steve Marchand (born January 10, 1974) is an American politician. He served as the mayor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, from 2006 to 2008. He is the principal of SRM Consulting, a public affairs and strategic communications firm. Prior to that, he ...

, former

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

* Phil McLaughlin, former

state Attorney General The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the federal district, or of any of the territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney genera ...

* Terry Shumaker, lawyer and former

United States Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago The current United States ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago is Shante Moore as Chargé d'Affaires ''ad interim''. The United States Embassy is located in Trinidad and Tobago's capital, Port of Spain, and was established there on August 31, 1962. ...

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

* Ovide M. Lamontagne, attorney, nominee for governor in 1996 and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010 * Kevin H. Smith, conservative activist and former state Representative * Robert Tarr

Declined

* Bill Binnie, businessman and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010 *

Jeb Bradley Joseph E. "Jeb" Bradley (born October 20, 1952) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who serves in the New Hampshire Senate. He represents his hometown of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire and 16 other towns in east-central New Ha ...

, New Hampshire Senate Majority Leader and former U.S. Representative * Peter Bragdon, state Senate President *

Ted Gatsas Theodore L. Gatsas (born May 22, 1950), known as Ted Gatsas, is an American politician and member of the Republican party who had served as Mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire from 2010 to 2018. He was a member of the New Hampshire Senate, repres ...

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

* Steve Kenda, businessman * John Lyons, chairman of the New Hampshire Board of Education * John Stephen, former Health and Human Services Commissioner and Republican nominee for governor in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

* John Babiarz (

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

), businessman and party nominee for governor in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, and

(D), former majority leader of the New Hampshire Senate *

(R), attorney, Republican nominee for governor in 1996, and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010

Debates

Complete video of debate

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

, September 14, 2012
Complete video of debate

, October 8, 2012

Predictions

Polling

;With Cilley ;With Smith ;With Kennedy ;With Bradley ;With Connolly ;With Gatsas ;With Lynch ;With Marchand ;With Stephen ;With Sununu

Results

References

External links

Election Division
at the New Hampshire Secretary of State ;Official campaign websites
John Babiarz for GovernorJackie Cilley for GovernorMaggie Hassan for GovernorOvide Lamontagne for GovernorKevin Smith for GovernorRobert Tarr for Governor
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Hampshire Gubernatorial Election, 2012 2012 United States gubernatorial elections

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...