Republican Kelly Ayotte will win the New Hampshire governor's race in a political comeback, CNN predicts

CNN
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Republican former Sen. Kelly Ayotte will win the race for New Hampshire governor, CNN predicts, completing a political comeback eight years after losing her Senate seat.

Ayotte defeated Democratic former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig in the race to succeed outgoing GOP Gov. Chris Sununu.

The race was a test of whether local interests or the national political atmosphere would play the most important role in influencing Granite State voters. Republicans tried to localize the race by hammering Craig on Manchester's drug and homelessness problems during her time as mayor. Democrats tried to nationalize it by linking Ayotte to former President Donald Trump and attacking her over her abortion rights.

The tactic made sense: New Hampshire has a long history of map-splitting but is trending increasingly Democratic in national contests. Hillary Clinton won there by just half a point in 2016, but President Joe Biden won by 7 points in 2020.

It's the second time Ayotte has shared the GOP ticket with Trump. She was ousted from her Senate seat by Maggie Hassan in 2016 after a single term.

Ayotte withdrew her support for the former president in 2016 following the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, but endorsed Trump this year.

After that defeat in 2016, she helped guide Neil Gorsuch, Trump's Supreme Court nominee, through the confirmation process in 2017. After her term in the Senate ended, she also served on the boards of several companies.

Craig was mayor of Manchester from 2018 until earlier this year, when she decided not to seek re-election after three two-year terms.