Republican Kelly Ayotte will win New Hampshire governor’s race in political comeback, CNN projects

Republican former Sen. Kelly Ayotte will win the New Hampshire governor's race, CNN projects, completing a political comeback eight years after she lost her Senate seat.

Ayotte defeated Democratic former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig in the race to replace 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 sought to localize the race, hammering Craig on Manchester's drug and homelessness problems during her time as mayor. Democrats attempted to nationalize it, tying Ayotte to former President Donald Trump and attacking her on abortion rights.

The tactics made sense: New Hampshire has a long history of ticket-splitting but has trended increasingly more 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 shared the GOP ticket with Trump. She was ousted from her Senate seat in 2016 by Maggie Hassan after a single term.

Ayotte withdrew her endorsement of the former president in 2016 in the wake of the "Access Hollywood" tape's release but supported Trump this year.

After that 2016 loss, she helped shepherd Trump Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch through the confirmation process in 2017. She also served on a number of corporations' boards of directors after her Senate term ended.

Craig was mayor of Manchester from 2018 through the beginning of this year, when she opted not to seek reelection after three two-year terms.