Sununu Easily Wins 3rd Term As N.H. Governor

Gov. Chris Sununu has been elected to a third term as New Hampshire governor. The Republican from Newfields called it a mandate on his management and his promise to stay faithful to core GOP principles of limited government and local control.

“We really tried to run a race that was positive, that was built on management and that was built around New Hampshire,” Sununu said on WMUR, just moments after the Associated Press called the race. “We just tried to be very issue driven, very policy driven, very positive.”

While a final vote tally is not yet available, Sununu appears to have easily beaten back the challenge of Democrat Dan Feltes, the state Senate majority leader and former legal aid lawyer. Feltes highlighted his humble roots as a foil to the incumbent Republican, whose father was governor, whose brother was a U.S. senator, and whose family owns the Waterville Valley Ski Area.

Polling throughout the race showed Sununu with a comfortable lead, and he campaigned extensively with down-ballot Republican candidates — for the Legislature and the Executive Council — in the final weeks of the election. Whether that effort paid off will become clear as more results trickle in through the evening and into Wednesday.

Throughout the campaign, Feltes worked to link Sununu to President Trump, a connection that Sununu never explicitly repudiated but tended to avoid drawing on his own unprompted. Feltes also argued that Sununu, who vetoed a record 79 bills over the past two years, blocked progress on Democratic priorities including lifting the minimum wage, creating a paid leave program, and several clean energy initiatives.

Sununu, meanwhile, took aim at Feltes’ lack of executive experience.

“He hasn’t managed anything,” Sununu said when he kicked off his general election campaign. Sununu also cast Feltes, who had pledged to veto a sales or income tax, as “an income tax architect,” citing Feltes’ signature policy, a paid leave program that would be financed by payroll deductions.

Here's a glance at the gubernatorial races across the country:

This story was originally published on New Hampshire Public Radio's website.