The 2016 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2016, to elect the governor of New Hampshire, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
The primaries were held on September 13.
Incumbent Democratic governor Maggie Hassan 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. 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 Maggie Hassan, 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 elections that were held September 13, 2016.
New Hampshire and Vermont 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, former mayor of Portsmouth
- Colin Van Ostern, Executive Councilor
Declined
- Jackie Cilley, state representative, former state senator and candidate for governor in 2012
- Dan Feltes, state senator
- Maggie Hassan, 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, Portsmouth City Councilor and daughter of U.S. senator Jeanne Shaheen
- Carol Shea-Porter, former U.S. representative (running for NH-01)
- Donna Soucy, state senator
- Mike Vlacich, campaign manager for Senator Shaheen
Republican primary
Candidates
Declared
- Frank Edelblut, state representative
- Jeanie Forrester, state senator
- Ted Gatsas, Mayor of Manchester
- 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 and former U.S. representative
- Walt Havenstein, businessman and nominee for governor in 2014
- Donnalee Lozeau, Mayor of Nashua
- Chuck Morse, president of the State Senate
- Andy Sanborn, state senator
Endorsements
Frank Edelblut
- 603 Alliance
- New Hampshire Liberty Alliance
- Fifty-seven current members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives: Chris Adams, Glen Aldrich, Keith Ammon, John Balcom, Steven Beaudoin, Rick Christie, James Coffey, Allen Cook, Susan Delemus, Dan Donovan, Eric Eastman, Tracy Emerick, Elizabeth Ferreira, Valerie Fraser, Harold French, Bart Fromuth, Dick Gordon, Linda Gould, Warren Groen, Joe Hannon, J.R. Hoell, Edith Hogan, Werner Horn, Ray Howard, Paul Ingbretson, Dan Itse, Tom Kaczynski, Joe Lachance, Don Lebrun, Donald McClarren, Jim McConnell, Mark McLean, Carol McGuire, Dan McGuire, Josh Moore, Bill Ohm, Jeff Oligny, Jason Parent, Joe Pitre, Katherine Prudhomme O'Brien, Kimberly Rice, Eric Schleien, Carl Seidel, Tammy Simmons, Kathleen Souza, Greg Smith, James Spillane, Victoria Sullivan, Mike Sylvia, Dan Tamburello, Len Turcotte, Jordan Ulery, Peter Varney, Michael Vose, Joshua Whitehouse, Ted Wright, Kurt Wuelper
- The Conway Daily Sun
Jeanie Forrester
Ted Gatsas
Chris Sununu
Individuals
- Charles Bass, former U.S. representative
- Scott Brown, former United States senator from Massachusetts
- Bill Cahill, former Executive Councilor
- Louis Georgopoulos, former Executive Councilor
- Judd Gregg, former governor of New Hampshire
- Ruth Griffin, former Executive Councilor
- John Kasich, Governor of Ohio and 2016 presidential candidate
- Joseph Kenney, executive councilor
- Steve Merrill, former governor of New Hampshire
- Chuck Morse, president of the New Hampshire Senate
- Earl Rinker, former executive councilor
- Dan St. Hilaire, former executive councilor
- Raymond Wieczorek, former executive councilor
Newspapers
- Concord Monitor
- The Portsmouth Herald
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
Polling
Aggregate polls
Results
By county
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Carroll (largest city: Conway)
- Coös (largest city: Berlin)
- Sullivan (largest city: Claremont)
By congressional district
Sununu won one of the two congressional districts, which elected a Democrat.