The 2016 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2016, to elect the

governor of New Hampshire The governor of New Hampshire is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The governor is elected during the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along w ...

, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and various

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

. The primaries were held on September 13. Incumbent Democratic governor

Maggie Hassan Margaret Wood Hassan ( ; ; born February 27, 1958) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator for New Hampshire since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Hassan was the 81st governor of New Hampshire, ...

was eligible to run for re-election to a third term in office, but she instead successfully ran for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Kelly Ayotte. In the general election, Republican nominee Chris Sununu defeated Democrat Colin Van Ostern and Libertarian state representative Max Abramson to become the first Republican governor of New Hampshire elected since

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. With a margin of 2.27%, this election was the second-closest race of the 2016 gubernatorial election cycle, behind only the election in North Carolina.

Background

Governor

, the incumbent from the Democratic Party, declined to run for reelection, choosing to seek a U.S. Senate seat instead. Both major parties had multiple declared candidates, leading to

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

s that were held September 13, 2016. New Hampshire and

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

are the only states in the country whose governors are elected every two years.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

* Mark Connolly, former New Hampshire Deputy Secretary of State * Derek Dextraze * Ian Freeman, radio host *

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 of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

* Colin Van Ostern, Executive Councilor

Declined

* Jackie Cilley, state representative, former state senator and candidate for governor in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

* Dan Feltes, state senator *

, incumbent governor (running for U.S. Senate) * Andrew Hosmer, state senator * Ann McLane Kuster, U.S. representative (running for re-election) * Shawn O'Connor, businessman ( running for NH-01) * Chris Pappas, Executive Councilor * Stefany Shaheen,

City Councilor and daughter of U.S. senator

Jeanne Shaheen Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen ( ; née Bowers, born January 28, 1947) is an American politician and former educator serving since 2009 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New Hampshire. A ...

* Carol Shea-Porter, former U.S. representative ( running for NH-01) * Donna Soucy, state senator * Mike Vlacich, campaign manager for Senator Shaheen

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

* Frank Edelblut, state representative * Jeanie Forrester, state senator * Ted Gatsas, Mayor of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

* John Lavoie * Chris Sununu, Executive Councilor, son of former governor John H. Sununu and brother of former U.S. senator John E. Sununu

Declined

* Jeb Bradley, Majority Leader of the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

and former U.S. representative * Walt Havenstein, businessman and nominee for governor in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* Donnalee Lozeau, Mayor of Nashua * Chuck Morse, president of the

* Andy Sanborn, state senator

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Libertarian Party

Candidates

Declared

* Max Abramson, state representative

Independents

Candidates

Declared

* Mike Gill, businessman * Jilletta Jarvis, training project manager

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 26, 2016 -

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

Predictions

Polling

Aggregate polls
with Maggie Hassan
with Stefany Shaheen
with Chris Pappas
with Terie Norelli
with Mark Connolly
with Jackie Cilley

Results

By county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican * Carroll (largest city:

Conway Conway may refer to: Places United States * Conway, Arkansas * Conway County, Arkansas * Lake Conway, Arkansas * Conway, Florida * Conway, Iowa * Conway, Kansas * Conway, Louisiana * Conway, Massachusetts * Conway, Michigan * Conway Townshi ...

) * Coös (largest city:

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) * Sullivan (largest city: Claremont)

By congressional district

Sununu won one of the two congressional districts, which elected a Democrat.https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::dc25e6e9-1e87-439f-8f67-9f20aa842487

Notes

References

External links

Chris Sununu (R) for Governor

Colin Van Ostern (D) for Governor

Max Abramson (L) for Governor

Jilletta Jarvis (I) for Governor
{{2016 United States elections

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

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

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...