New Hampshire 2026 elections

Political landscape in New Hampshire

Overview

New Hampshire is a New England state. Massachusetts borders it on the south, Vermont on the west and Maine on the east, where the state also touches the Gulf of Maine, and Quebec in Canada lies on the north. It is the seventh smallest state by land area and ranks 41st in population. Concord is the capital and Manchester the most populous city. Known as the Granite State, with the motto Live Free or Die, it holds the first primary of each presidential election cycle. Europeans arrived in the 17th century, with the English among the earliest settlers, and the Province of New Hampshire was established in 1629; in 1776 New Hampshire was the first colony to form an independent government and constitution, and in 1788 its ratification as the ninth state put the US Constitution into effect. Industrialization after the Civil War made it a center of textiles, shoes and paper, and since 1950 the economy has expanded into high technology, finance, real estate, education and transportation. The state relies heavily on local property taxes and keeps its overall state tax burden low.

Officeholders

As of October 2026, the governor of New Hampshire is Kelly Ayotte (Republican), and the state's US senators are Jeanne Shaheen (Democratic) and Maggie Hassan (Democratic).

2026 elections

On November 3, 2026, voters in New Hampshire will decide the race for a US Senate seat, the race for governor, contests in 2 US House districts and 1 ballot measure. The single measure is the Register of Probate Amendment.