Republican Kelly Ayotte will succeed Chris Sununu as governor of New Hampshire after earning the majority of the vote over her Democratic challenger Joyce Craig in Tuesday's election.
Ayotte, a former U.S. Senator and New Hampshire attorney general, campaigned on continuing Sununu's legacy, and now she will get her chance to do just that.
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"When I announced this campaign, I said that we were one election away from becoming Massachusetts. Well guess what – not on my watch," Ayotte said in her victory speech Tuesday night.
Ayotte defeated Craig, the former Manchester mayor, in part by criticizing Craig’s handling of homelessness and drug abuse in the city during her six years in office.
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Craig was unable to convince enough voters supporting Vice President Kamala Harris – who won New Hampshire – to vote blue up and down the ballot. She called Ayotte to concede on Tuesday night.
"While tonight isn't the result we wanted, I'm proud of our campaign and the issues we focused on," she told her supporters afterward.
Ayotte’s tenuous support of former President Donald Trump’s bid for the White House may have helped her -- unlike in 2016 where she withdrew her endorsement of Trump and lost her re-election. But instead of relying on the top of the ticket, Ayotte aligned herself with Sununu -- who declined to seek a fifth two-year term -- winning his support during her campaign.
“Kelly Ayotte talked about the issues that were important to the voters," Sununu said Tuesday. "The Democrats had a giant multi-million dollar negative campaign – whether it was the abortion piece, which, it’s an important piece to discuss, but isn’t a top priority here in New Hampshire.”
“It was a very hard campaign, hard fought, and so I just worked as hard as I could, but those New Hampshire voters that I met every day, that was the thing that energized me," Ayotte said. "The people of New Hampshire are wonderful. They’re willing to have those conversations with you and tell you what’s on their minds.”
Ayotte will be sworn in as governor in January.
