2026 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

Last updated

2026 New Hampshire gubernatorial election
Flag of New Hampshire.svg
  2024 November 3, 20262028 
 
Party Republican Democratic

Incumbent Governor

Kelly Ayotte
Republican



The 2026 New Hampshire gubernatorial election will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Incumbent Republican governor Kelly Ayotte is eligible to run for a second term but has not stated if she will do so. Along with neighboring Vermont, this will be one of two Republican-held governorships up for election in a state that Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential election.

Contents

Republican primary

Candidates

Publicly expressed interest

Potential

Declined

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

  • Jon Kiper, former Newmarket town councilor and candidate for governor in 2024 (previously ran as an independent) [2]

Publicly expressed interest

Declined

Independents

Withdrawn

General election

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [5] Likely RSeptember 11, 2025
Inside Elections [6] Solid RAugust 28, 2025
Sabato's Crystal Ball [7] Likely RSeptember 4, 2025
Race to the WH [8] TossupOctober 6, 2025

Polling

Hypothetical polling

Kelly Ayotte vs. Generic Democrat

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size [a]
Margin
of error
Kelly
Ayotte
Generic
Democrat
Undecided
co/efficient (R) [9] October 9–13, 20251,034 (LV)± 3.1%43%40%17%

See also

Notes

  1. Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear

References

  1. 1 2 Kashinsky, Lisa; Garrity, Kelly; Ward, Myah (October 2, 2025). "Lewandowski weighs bid against Gov. Ayotte amid White House pressure campaign". Politico . Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  2. 1 2 Sexton, Adam (September 2, 2025). "Kiper rejoins Democratic Party to continue campaign for New Hampshire governor". WMUR-TV . Retrieved September 2, 2025.
  3. Sexton, Adam (May 2, 2025). "Tom Sherman considering campaign for governor or 1st District in 2026". WMUR-TV . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
  4. Colson, Nicole (September 12, 2025). "On WKBK, Volinsky Urges Tax Reform to Fix N.H. School Funding". My Keene Now. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  5. "2026 CPR Governor Race ratings". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  6. "Gubernatorial Ratings". Inside Elections . Retrieved February 7, 2025.
  7. "2026 Governor". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  8. "Governor Forecast - 2026-2026". Race to the WH. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  9. "New Hampshire Senate 2026 General Election". co/efficient. October 13, 2025. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
Official campaign websites