2024 Election Results: Ayotte Wins Guv Seat; Democrats Hold CD Seats

CONCORD, NH — Polls closed in New Hampshire and unofficial results from around the state are trickling in for president, governor, Congress, Executive Council, state Senate, state Representatives, and county races, showing huge turnout across the state.

The NBC News Decision Desk called the state for Vice President Kamala Harris early Tuesday with about 30 percent reporting and with the Democrat securing about 54 percent of the vote. At around 9:25 p.m., Fox News called the gubernatorial race for former Sen. Kelly Ayotte.

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“Kelly Ayotte won her campaign by promising Granite Staters that she will veto any abortion restrictions or bans that cross her desk,” Kayla Montgomery, the vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund, said. “As we look ahead, we will remain vigilant, ensuring that Kelly Ayotte’s words during this campaign are matched by action.”

She said the fight for reproductive freedom was far from over and the org would continue to advocate for the health and rights of Granite Staters, “no matter what.”

Suzan DelBene, the chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, congratulated Pappas for his victory, calling him a commonsense leader who puts Granite State families first.

“Chris has a record of getting things done, whether it’s standing up for veterans, local law enforcement, working families, or women’s reproductive freedom,” she said. “I look forward to continuing to work alongside Chris in Congress and congratulate him on tonight’s win.”

With nearly 60 percent of the vote counted, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas was declared the winner of the 1st Congressional District with a 20,000 vote lead against Republican Russell Prescott.

In the 2nd Congressional District, Maggie Goodlander had a lead of around 24,000 votes. But with only 42 percent counted, it has not been called yet.

Williams, just after midnight on Wednesday, conceded the race to Goodlander.

“Thank you to everyone who cast a vote for our campaign and our goal to keep the American Dream alive,” she said. “I am grateful for the outpouring of support, especially in the last few weeks. I remain committed to fighting for a better future for our nation, and will continue to be a voice for holding our government accountable and demanding transparency and truth from our elected officials. Thank you to Team Lily and my volunteers for all your support during this campaign. A very special thanks to my husband John and my three children — this journey would not have been possible without you. America is a beacon of hope around the world because of the opportunity and freedoms it offers. We are all blessed to be Americans.”

Voters in New Hampshire also have a constitutional amendment regarding increasing the age of required retirements for sheriffs and judges.

Last week, Secretary of State David Scanlan called for a historically high turnout — 824,000 votes, or about 91 percent of current registrations. That percentage is expected to drop slightly due to the number of new same-day registrations.

According to an NBC News analysis of data provided by TargetSmart, about 86,000 absentee ballots were requested in the Granite State, with 75,000 returned by Monday. Thirty-three percent of the absentee ballots were Democrats, 33 were Republican, and 30 percent were undeclared. Women cast fifty-three percent of the absentee ballots, while 51 percent were 65 or older.

Students around the state predicted wins for Republicans Donald Trump and Kelly Ayotte and Democrats Chris Pappas and Maggie Goodlander during the NH PBS Mock Election. Polls in New Hampshire tightened in nearly all the major races. Students in New Hampshire have been voting in mock elections since 2000 and correctly predicted the presidential winner in every race except 2000 when they narrowly voted for Al Gore over George W. Bush.

In midnight voting in Dixville Notch, six voters cast three ballots each for Trump and Harris, five voters chose Ayotte, and one picked Joyce Craig for governor. All six voters cast ballots for Nikki Haley in the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary. In 2020, Joe Biden received five votes, while Hillary Clinton received four out of seven in 2016. Trump received two.

While unofficial results are quickly tabulated in the Granite State compared to other locations nationwide, confirming winners may take until Wednesday or later, if there are recounts.

As polls began to open Tuesday morning, people posted photos on X-Twitter showing long lines to get into polling places in Concord, Hopkinton, Merrimack, and Peterborough.

In Merrimack, about 1,000 people cast ballots during the first hour, according to Jeffrey Hastings, who was at the polls to vote and take pictures. The polling location is one of three in the town. About 100 people were also waiting in line to register to vote. Some people in line stated they had been waiting as much as 45 minutes to an hour to register. One official said it was the most significant line of voters they had ever seen at the polls.

Hastings reported polls in Nashua later in the morning were also busy, but lines were moving briskly through polling places. Voters said it was taking about 15 minutes to get in to vote.
Heavy turnout was also seen in Concord.

At the Ward 9 polling location around noontime, nearly 1,000 people had voted. In 2020, about 2,000 voters cast ballots.

About 30 minutes later, more than 1,700 voters had cast ballots in Ward 5, according to Nick Wallner, an election official, or about 50 percent of registered voters. About 2,700 voters cast ballots in 2020.

Similar numbers were reported at Ward 10, the city’s busiest ward. An election official said voters at the Broken Ground Elementary School were in winding lines around the gym two different times during the day Tuesday.

In Concord’s Ward 3 at around 3 p.m., 960 people had voted.

Lines were seen around polling locations in Hampton and Manchester this afternoon, too.

According to an alert on Dataminr, at 7:05 p.m., AP appeared to call the gubernatorial race for Kelly Ayotte even though polls in many cities and towns in New Hampshire had not closed.

While AP did not report why it was calling the race before polls closed, it must be due to data it had from exit polling. Or, AP made a mistake, adding in the word "nomination" to the alert.

Unofficial Results

Here are the unofficial results for the 2024 general election in New Hampshire. 94 percent reporting. Unofficial results. * denotes winner.

President

Kamala Harris/Tim Walz 400,236 *

Donald Trump/JD Vance 376,341

Chase Oliver/Mike ter Maat 4,213

Jill Stein/Rudolph Ware 3,472

Governor

Kelly Ayotte 414,161 *

Joyce Craig 345,512

Stephen Villee 16,197

Follow along with all of Patch and news partner political coverage here: NH Election 2024

1st Congressional District

Chris Pappas 204,740 *

Russell Prescott 172,861

2nd Congressional District

Maggie Goodlander 206,731 *

Lily Tang Williams 181,103

Executive Council District 2

Karen Liot Hill 85,322 *

Kim Strathdee 63,522

Executive Council District 3

Janet Stevens 92,290 *

Jon Morgan 75,412

Executive Council District 4

John Stephen 67,450

Jim O’Connell 57,102

Executive Council District 5

Dave Wheeler 80,594 *

Melanie Levesque 70,347

Constitutional Amendment Question

Sheriffs can only serve until they are 70 years of age; judges can only serve until they are 75.

Yes: 408,864

No: 215,962

Local Results

Click on the link for unofficial results and refresh for updates.

• Amherst NH 2024 General Election Results
• Bedford NH 2024 General Election Results
• Concord NH 2024 General Election Results
• Exeter NH 2024 General Election Results
• Hampton-North Hampton NH 2024 General Election Results
• Londonderry NH 2024 General Election Results
• Manchester NH 2024 General Election Results
• Merrimack NH 2024 General Election Results
• Milford NH 2024 General Election Results
• Nashua NH 2024 General Election Results
• Portsmouth NH 2024 General Election Results
• Salem NH 2024 General Election Results
• Windham NH 2024 General Election Results

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