2018_New_Hampshire_gubernatorial_election

2018 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

Election

The 2018 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the governor of New Hampshire. Incumbent Republican Governor Chris Sununu won re-election to a second term, defeating former state senator Molly Kelly. Sununu was the first incumbent Republican to win reelection as governor since Steve Merrill was reelected in 1994.

For related races, see 2018 United States gubernatorial elections.

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

2018 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

← 2016

November 6, 2018

2020 →


Nominee	Chris Sununu	Molly Kelly
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	302,764	262,359
Percentage	52.8%	45.7%

County results

Municipality results

Congressional district results

Precinct results

Sununu:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Kelly:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Tie:      40–50%      No votes

Governor before election

Chris Sununu
Republican

Elected Governor

Chris Sununu
Republican

Primary elections were held on September 11, 2018. The gubernatorial election was coincident with races for the state legislature and the United States House of Representatives.

Background

New Hampshire is one of only two states, along with Vermont, where governors are elected to two-year terms. Republican Chris Sununu was elected in the 2016 election.^[1]

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Chris Sununu, incumbent governor^[2]

Polling

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Chris Sununu	Other	Undecided
TargetPoint/GQR	March 8–15, 2018	326	± 5.4%	77%	9%	14%

Results

Results by county:

Sununu—≥90%

More information Party, Candidate ...

Republican primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Chris Sununu (incumbent)	91,025	98.3
	Democratic	Molly Kelly (write-in)	577	0.6
	Democratic	Steve Marchand (write-in)	160	0.2
	Libertarian	Jiletta Jarvis (write-in)	90	0.0
	Libertarian	Aaron Day (write-in)	39	0.0
	Scattering		692	0.7
Total votes			92,583	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Molly Kelly, former state senator^[4]
Steve Marchand, former mayor of Portsmouth and candidate for governor in 2016^[5]

Declined

Dan Feltes, state senator^[6]
Chris Pappas, Executive Councilor (running for NH-01)^[7]^[8]
Colin Van Ostern, former executive councilor and nominee for governor in 2016 (running for Secretary of State)^[9]
Andru Volinsky, Executive Councilor^[10]

Polling

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mark Connolly	Molly Kelly	Steve Marchand	Other	Undecided
Suffolk University Archived 2018-05-03 at the Wayback Machine	April 26–30, 2018	401	–	–	21%	19%	–	58%
TargetPoint/GQR	March 8–15, 2018	346	± 5.3%	9%	17%	11%	4%	58%

Results

Results by county:

Kelly—70–80%

Kelly—60–70%

More information Party, Candidate ...

Democratic primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Molly Kelly	80,598	65.5
	Democratic	Steve Marchand	41,612	33.8
	Republican	Chris Sununu (write-in) (incumbent)	563	0.5
	Libertarian	Jiletta Jarvis (write-in)	17	0.0
	Libertarian	Aaron Day (write-in)	8	0.0
	Scattering		167	0.1
Total votes			122,965	100.0

Libertarian primary

Jilletta Jarvis was the Libertarian candidate in the election.

Candidates

Declared

Aaron Day, former chair of the Free State Project^[11] and independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2016^[12]
Jilletta Jarvis, former secretary of the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire and independent candidate for governor in 2016^[13]^[14]

Results

Results by county:

Jarvis—60–70%

Jarvis—50–60%

Jarvis—40–50%

Day—40–50%

Day—50–60%

More information Party, Candidate ...

Libertarian Primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Libertarian	Jilletta Jarvis	576	51.9
	Libertarian	Aaron Day	487	43.9
	Republican	Chris Sununu (write-in) (incumbent)	21	1.9
	Democratic	Molly Kelly (write-in)	9	0.8
	Democratic	Steve Marchand (write-in)	6	0.5
	Scattering		11	1.0
Total votes			1,110	100.0

General election

Predictions

More information Source, Ranking ...

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[15]	Lean R	October 26, 2018
The Washington Post^[16]	Lean R	November 5, 2018
FiveThirtyEight^[17]	Likely R	November 5, 2018
Rothenberg Political Report^[18]	Lean R	November 1, 2018
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[19]	Lean R	November 5, 2018
RealClearPolitics^[20]	Tossup	November 4, 2018
Daily Kos^[21]	Likely R	November 5, 2018
Fox News^[22]^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Lean R	November 5, 2018
Politico^[23]	Lean R	November 5, 2018
Governing^[24]	Lean R	November 5, 2018

Notes

The Fox News Midterm Power Rankings uniquely does not contain a category for Safe/Solid races

Endorsements

Molly Kelly (D)

Former U.S. Executive Branch officials

Hillary Clinton, 67th United States Secretary of State^[25]
Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States^[26]

U.S. Senators

Cory Booker, U.S. Senator (D-NJ)^[27]
Maggie Hassan, U.S. Senator (D-NH) and former Governor of New Hampshire^[28]
Jeanne Shaheen, U.S. Senator (D-NH) and former governor of New Hampshire^[29]
Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator (D-MA)^[30]

U.S. Representatives

Ann McLane Kuster, U.S. Representative (D-NH-2)^[31]

Local and state politicians

Peter Burling, former state senator^[32]
Joyce Craig, Mayor of Manchester^[33]
Lou D'Allesandro, state senator^[32]
Betsi DeVries, former state senator^[32]
Dan Feltes, state senator^[32]
Joe Foster, former Attorney General of New Hampshire^[34]
Peggy Gilmour, former state senator^[32]
Martha Hennessey, state senator^[35]
Beverly Hollingworth, former Executive Councilor of New Hampshire and former state senator^[32]
Jay Kahn, state senator^[32]
Sylvia Larsen, former president of the New Hampshire Senate^[32]
Mandy Merrill, former state senator^[32]
Terie Norelli, former Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives^[34]
Deborah Reynolds, former state senator^[32]
Steve Shurtleff, New Hampshire House of Representatives Democratic Minority Leader^[34]
Donna Soucy, State Senate Minority Leader^[36]
Rick Trombly, executive director of NEA-New Hampshire and former state senator^[32]
David Watters, state senator^[32]
Katie Wheeler, former state senator^[32]
Jeff Woodburn, New Hampshire Senate Minority Leader^[34]

Individuals

Misha Collins, actor and former White House intern^[37]
Kathy Sullivan, former chairperson of the New Hampshire Democratic Party^[34]

Labor unions

American Federation of Teachers-New Hampshire^[38]
International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 633^[39]
National Education Association – New Hampshire Affiliate^[40]
New Hampshire AFL-CIO^[41]
State Employees' Association of New Hampshire/Service Employees International Union Local 1984^[42]

Organizations

EMILY's List^[43]
End Citizens United^[44]^[45]

Chris Sununu (R)

Individuals

Chris Christie, former Governor of New Jersey^[46]
Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States^[47]

Organizations

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 104^[48]
National Federation of Independent Business^[49]
New Hampshire Police Association^[50]
New Hampshire Troopers Association^[51]
Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire^[52]

Newspapers

The Exeter News-Letter^[53]
Foster's Daily Democrat^[54]
Hampton Union'^[53]
Nashua Telegraph^[55]
The Portsmouth Herald^[53]
Union Leader^[56]

Polling

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Chris Sununu (R)	Molly Kelly (D)	Jilletta Jarvis (L)	Other	Undecided
University of New Hampshire	November 1–4, 2018	630	± 3.9%	46%	46%	2%	0%	6%
Change Research (D-NH Democratic Party)	October 27–29, 2018	901	–	47%	46%	–	–	–
Emerson College	October 27–29, 2018	1,139	± 3.7%	51%	43%	1%	–	5%
University of New Hampshire	October 10–18, 2018	499	± 4.4%	50%	39%	4%	–	7%
Saint Anselm College	October 10–15, 2018	454	± 4.6%	49%	39%	1%	0%	12%
Emerson College	October 10–12, 2018	625	± 4.2%	51%	35%	1%	–	14%
American Research Group	September 21–26, 2018	800	± 3.5%	49%	44%	–	0%	7%
University of New Hampshire	August 2–19, 2018	389	± 5.0%	48%	32%	–	5%	16%
Suffolk University Archived 2018-05-03 at the Wayback Machine	April 26–30, 2018	800	± 3.5%	48%	27%	4%	–	21%
University of New Hampshire	April 13–22, 2018	379	± 5.0%	51%	24%	2%	4%	20%

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Chris Sununu (R)	Steve Marchand (D)	Jilletta Jarvis (L)	Other	Undecided
University of New Hampshire	August 2–19, 2018	389	± 5.0%	48%	33%	–	4%	15%
Suffolk University Archived 2018-05-03 at the Wayback Machine	April 26–30, 2018	800	± 3.5%	49%	25%	4%	–	21%
University of New Hampshire	April 13–22, 2018	379	± 5.0%	49%	24%	2%	2%	20%
University of New Hampshire	January 28 – February 10, 2018	381	± 5.0%	42%	28%	–	–	30%

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Chris Sununu (R)	Generic Democrat	Undecided
Praecones Analytica	August 13–15, 2018	626	± 3.9%	47%	33%	20%

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Generic Republican	Generic Democrat	Other	Undecided
TargetPoint/GQR	March 8–15, 2018	600	± 4.0%	43%	39%	4%	14%

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Chris Sununu (R)	Mark Connolly (D)	Other	Undecided
University of New Hampshire	January 28 – February 10, 2018	381	± 5.0%	41%	29%	–	30%

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Chris Sununu (R)	Colin Van Ostern (D)	Undecided
University of New Hampshire	January 28 – February 10, 2018	381	± 5.0%	41%	31%	28%

Hypothetical polling

with Steve Marchand

with Chris Sununu and generic Democrat

with generic Republican and Democrat

with Mark Connolly

with Sununu and Van Ostern

Results

More information Party, Candidate ...

2018 New Hampshire gubernatorial election^[57]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Chris Sununu (incumbent)	302,764	52.78%	+3.94%
	Democratic	Molly Kelly	262,359	45.74%	-0.83%
	Libertarian	Jilletta Jarvis	8,197	1.43%	-2.88%
	Write-in		282	0.05%	-0.23%
Total votes			573,602	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

Results by county

More information County, Molly Kelly Democratic ...

2018 Gubernatorial election results in New Hampshire (by county) ^[58]
County	Molly Kelly Democratic		Chris Sununu Republican		Other votes		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#
Belknap	9,690	36.00%	16,856	62.62%	374	1.39%	7,166	26.62%	26,920
Carroll	10,432	43.46%	13,308	55.44%	265	1.10%	2,876	11.98%	24,005
Cheshire	18,158	55.80%	13,875	42.64%	509	1.56%	-4,283	-13.16%	32,542
Coös	4,988	42.96%	6,397	55.10%	225	1.94%	1,409	12.14%	11,610
Grafton	22,932	56.89%	16,734	41.52%	642	1.59%	-6,198	-15.37%	40,308
Hillsborough	72,033	44.34%	87,846	54.07%	2,589	1.59%	15,813	9.73%	162,468
Merrimack	30,540	46.97%	33,513	51.54%	972	1.49%	2,973	4.57%	65,025
Rockingham	59,269	42.29%	79,195	56.50%	1,699	1.21%	19,926	14.21%	140,163
Strafford	26,593	49.89%	25,782	48.37%	931	1.75%	-811	-1.52%	53,306
Sullivan	7,724	44.76%	9,258	53.65%	273	1.58%	1,534	8.89%	17,255

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Merrimack (largest city: Concord)

Results by congressional district

Sununu won both congressional districts, which simultaneously elected Democrats.^[59]

More information District, Kelly ...

District	Kelly	Sununu	Representative
1st	44.01%	54.64%	Chris Pappas
2nd	47.58%	50.91%	Annie Kuster

References

[1]
Ramer, Holly (November 9, 2016). "Sununu chosen as N.H. governor". Concord Monitor. Associated Press. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
[2]
Bookman, Todd (October 4, 2017). "To No One's Surprise, Sununu Confirms He's Running for Re-Election". New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
[3]
"Results". Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
[4]
DiStaso, John (April 5, 2018). "NH Primary Source: Molly Kelly to announce gubernatorial decision next week". WMUR. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
[5]
Tuohy, Dan (April 3, 2017). "Marchand says he's running for governor". New Hampshire Union Leader. Archived from the original on April 6, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
[6]
Sexton, Adam (March 11, 2018). "Feltes rules out run for governor". WMUR. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
[7]
DiStaso, John (July 20, 2017). "Pappas heads north, says it's about the ice cream". WMUR. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
[8]
DiStaso, John (November 9, 2017). "Democrat Pappas announces candidacy for 1st District US House seat". WMUR-TV. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
[9]
LANDRIGAN, KEVIN (March 13, 2018). "Van Ostern to challenge Gardner for Secretary of State position". New Hampshire Union Leader. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
[10]
Solomon, David (September 27, 2017). "Executive Councilor Volinsky won't run for governor in 2018". New Hampshire Union Leader. Archived from the original on September 27, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
[11]
"Free State Project Early Movers: FSP Chairman Aaron Day". February 12, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
[12]
DiStaso, John (June 7, 2018). "NH Primary Source: Libertarian Party of NH may have primary for governor". Retrieved September 12, 2018.
[13]
DiStaso, John (April 3, 2017). "Updated NH Primary Source". WMUR. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
[14]
Freeman, Ian (March 25, 2017). "Libertarian Jilletta Jarvis Announces Campaign for NH Governor in 2018!". Free Keene. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
[15]
"2018 Governor Race Ratings for October 26, 2018". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
[16]
"The Washington Post's gubernatorial race ratings". The Washington Post. October 16, 2018.
[17]
"2018 Governor Forecast | FiveThirtyEight". FiveThirtyEight. October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
[18]
"2018 Gubernatorial Ratings | Inside Elections". insideelections.com. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
[19]
"Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball » 2018 Governor". www.centerforpolitics.org. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
[20]
"2018 Governor Races". RealClearPolitics. October 9, 2018.
[21]
"2018 Governor Race Ratings". Daily Kos. June 5, 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}
[22]
"2018 Midterm Power Ranking". Fox News. August 2022.
[23]
"Politico Race Ratings". Politico.
[24]
"2018 Governor Elections: As November Nears, More Governors' Races Become Tossups". www.governing.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
[25]
Hillary Clinton. ".@NHMollyKelly is an experienced leader and tireless fighter running for New Hampshire governor. She'll fight to improve economic security for working families and expand opportunity for all". Twitter.
[26]
Barack Obama. "Today, I'm proud to endorse even more Democratic candidates who aren't just running against something, but for something—to expand opportunity for all of us and to restore dignity, honor, and compassion to public service. They deserve your vote". Twitter.
[27]
Molly Kelly. "Thanks to @CoryBooker for joining me at a @NHYoungDems rally at UNH. Too many young people are leaving NH because they don't see opportunities – that's got to change. I'll listen to young people and enact friendly public policies that encourage them to stay in our great state". Twitter.
[28]
Rogers, Josh (June 5, 2018). "Hassan Endorses Kelly For Governor". nhpr.org/. New Hampshire Public Radio.
[29]
DiStaso, John (May 2, 2018). "NH Primary Source: Shaheen endorses Molly Kelly for governor". WMUR.
[30]
Elizabeth Warren. "Nobody should have to live 1 family emergency away from financial disaster. Help Molly Kelly fight back in NH". Twitter.
[31]
Staff, Sentinel (April 20, 2018). "Political notebook: Kuster endorses Kelly for governor". SentinelSource.com.
[32]
"Open Letter in Support of Molly Kelly for Governor" (PDF). Retrieved April 11, 2023.
[33]
"Mayor Joyce Craig Endorses Molly Kelly For NH Governor". NH LABOR NEWS. June 14, 2018.
[34]
DiStaso, John (April 12, 2018). "NH Primary Source first: Top Democratic state lawmakers endorse Kelly for governor". WMUR.
[35]
DiStaso, John (July 26, 2018). "NH Primary Source: State Sen. Hennessy shifts support from Marchand to Kelly". WMUR.
[36]
"Senator Donna Soucy Announces Support For Molly Kelly For NH Governor". NH LABOR NEWS. September 6, 2018.
[37]
Misha Collins [@mishacollins] (April 13, 2018). "Yes! Molly is on #MishasList too!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
[38]
"Sen. Molly Kelly's Commitment To Public Education Earns Support From AFT-NH". NH LABOR NEWS. August 7, 2018.
[39]
Padellaro, Jeffrey (May 10, 2018). "Teamsters back Kelly in first union endorsement of governor's race". Teamsters Local 633.
[40]
Tuttle, Megan (June 15, 2018). "NEA-NH Announces Recommendation of Molly Kelly for Governor". NEA-NH.
[41]
"New Hampshire AFL-CIO Candidate Endorsements | New Hampshire AFL-CIO". nhaflcio.org. New Hampshire AFL-CIO. September 22, 2018.
[42]
Gulla, Richard (September 26, 2018). "Press release: Molly Kelly for Governor". www.seiu1984.org. SEA/SEIU Local 1984 Board of Directors. Archived from the original on September 29, 2018. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
[43]
Schriock, Stephanie (April 13, 2018). "EMILY's List Endorses Molly Kelly for Governor of New Hampshire". www.emilyslist.org.
[44]
DiStaso, John (September 25, 2018). "End Citizens United PAC endorses Molly Kelly for governor". WMUR.
[45]
"Endorsed Candidates – Fight For Reform". Fight For Reform.
[46]
"Chris Christie visits NH, blasts Penn. officials for not joining Trump after synagogue attack". Associated Press. November 1, 2018.
[47]
Chooljian, Lauren (March 23, 2018). "Pence of Sununu: 'He's a Man Like President Trump ... 'a Man of Action'". New Hampshire Public Radio.
[48]
Ropeik, Annie (October 16, 2018). "Electrical Workers Union Endorses Sununu For Governor". New Hampshire Public Radio.
[49]
Chris Sununu. "It is an honor to receive the endorsement of @NFIB — the nation's leading small business association!". Twitter.
[50]
DiStaso, John (June 22, 2018). "Sununu receives earliest ever NH Police Association endorsement". wmur.com.
[51]
DiStaso, John (August 6, 2018). "NH Troopers Association endorses Sununu for reelection". wmur.com.
[52]
"Political notebook: State firefighters union throws weight behind Sununu". The Keene Sentinel. September 27, 2018.
[53]
"Editorial endorsement: Gov. Sununu deserves a second term". seacoastonline.com. October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
[54]
"Editorial endorsement: Gov. Sununu deserves a second term". Foster's Daily Democrat. October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
[55]
"Telegraph endorses Sununu". Nashua Telegraph. November 4, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
[56]
"Sununu for Governor: Earning a second term". Union Leader. October 12, 2018. Archived from the original on October 15, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
[57]
"2018 General Election Information and Results". sos.nh.gov. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020.
[58]
"2018 General Election Results".
[59]
"Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts". Daily Kos. Retrieved August 11, 2020.

External links

Candidates at Vote Smart
Candidates at Ballotpedia

Official campaign websites

Jilletta Jarvis (L) for Governor
Molly Kelly (D) for Governor
Chris Sununu (R) for Governor

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