New Hampshire's 8th State Senate district

New Hampshire's 8th State Senate district
Senator	Ruth Ward R – Stoddard
Registration	32.0%  Republican 24.1%  Democratic 43.9%  No party preference
Demographics	95.5%  White 0.4%  Black 1.2%  Hispanic 0.5%  Asian
Population (2019)  • Citizens of voting age	55,724 [1] [2] 44,345

New Hampshire's 8th State Senate district is one of 24 districts in the New Hampshire Senate. It has been represented by Republican Ruth Ward since 2016, succeeding fellow Republican Jerry Little. ^[3]

Geography

District 8 covers parts of Cheshire, Hillsborough, Merrimack, and Sullivan Counties, including the towns of Acworth, Antrim, Bennington, Claremont, New Hampshire, Charlestown, Croydon, Deering, Dunbarton, Francestown, Gilsum, Langdon, Lempster, Marlow, Newport, Stoddard, Sunapee, Washington, Weare and Windsor. ^[3]

The district is located entirely within New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district. ^[4] Its western end is very close to the state of Vermont, but does not border it. ^[1]

Recent election results

2024

2024 New Hampshire State Senate election, District 8 ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ruth Ward (Incumbent)	18,463	58.25
	Democratic	David Trumble	13,178	41.63
	Write-in		12	0.04
Total votes			31,653	100.0
	Republican hold

2022

2022 New Hampshire State Senate election, District 8 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ruth Ward (incumbent)	14,080	57.2
	Democratic	Charlene Lovett	10,520	42.7
Total votes			24,610	100.0

2020

2020 New Hampshire State Senate election, District 8 ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ruth Ward (incumbent)	18,903	55.6
	Democratic	Jenn Alford-Teaster	15,114	44.4
Total votes			34,017	100
	Republican hold

2018

2018 New Hampshire State Senate election, District 8 ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ruth Ward (incumbent)	12,859	51.3
	Democratic	Jenn Alford-Teaster	12,212	48.7
Total votes			25,071	100
	Republican hold

2016

2016 New Hampshire State Senate election, District 8 ^[7]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ruth Ward	2,618	50.1
	Republican	Jim Beard	2,609	49.9
Total votes			5,227	100
General election
	Republican	Ruth Ward	16,150	53.1
	Democratic	John Garvey	14,289	46.9
Total votes			30,439	100
	Republican hold

2014

2014 New Hampshire State Senate election, District 8 ^[7]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jerry Little	4,100	69.3
	Republican	J. P. Marzullo	1,817	30.7
Total votes			5,917	100
General election
	Republican	Jerry Little	12,033	55.5
	Democratic	Linda Tanner	9,649	44.5
Total votes			21,682	100
	Republican hold

2012

2012 New Hampshire State Senate election, District 8 ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Odell (incumbent)	17,709	61.4
	Democratic	Christopher Wallenstein	11,138	38.6
Total votes			28,847	100
	Republican hold

Federal and statewide results

Year	Office	Results [8]
2020	President	Trump 49.1 – 49.0%
2016	President	Trump 51.0 – 43.6%
2014	Senate	Shaheen 51.5 – 48.5%
	Governor	Hassan 50.9 – 49.1%
2012	President	Obama 51.1 – 47.4%
	Governor	Hassan 53.2 – 43.6%

References

1. "State Senate District 8, NH". Census Reporter. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
2. "Party Registration/Names on Checklist History". New Hampshire Secretary of State. May 21, 2019.
3. "Senator Ruth Ward (R-Stoddard)". New Hampshire State Senate. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
4. David Jarman. "How do counties, House districts, and legislative districts all overlap?". Daily Kos. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
5. "2024 Election Results". New Hampshire Secretary of State. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
6. "2022 General Election Results | New Hampshire Secretary of State". Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
7. "New Hampshire State Senate District 8". Ballotpedia. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
8. "Daily Kos Elections Statewide Results by LD". Daily Kos. Retrieved August 1, 2021.