Notes: Sen. Maggie Hassan (D), seeking a second term, defeated retired Army Brigadier General Don Bolduc (R) and Jeremy Kauffman (L), founder and CEO of blockchain company LBRY.io and board member of the Free State Project.  Although the race tightened at the close, Hassan ended up winning by a comfortable margin.

New Hampshire has the latest primary of any state, meaning Bolduc, the Republican nominee, had a short time-frame in which to make his case with limited resources.  Bolduc had been tagged as an "extreme" candidate, and one of his first moves after the primary was to change his position that Trump had won the 2020 election.  In a Sept. 15 appearance on Fox News' "America's Newsroom" he stated, "I have spent the past couple of weeks talking to Granite Staters all over the state, from every party, and I have come to the conclusion, and I want to be definitive about this, that the election was not stolen."

Bolduc kept up a very active schedule throughout the general election, holding multiple town halls and events, while Hassan was much less active.

Hassan and Bolduc debated twice: organized by NHPR, NH PBS and NH Bulletin at NHPR studios in Concord on Oct. 27 (>); and on WMUR-TV 9 in partnership with the NH Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College on Nov. 2 (>).

In the closing weeks the race appeared to tighten markedly [PDF].  Several Republican groups which had pulled back on ad buys re-engaged.  A poll by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center released on Nov. 1 showed Bolduc ahead by 48% to 47% among likely voters.  Politico's Election Forecast moved the race to "toss up" on Nov. 4, while Cook Political Report kept it in the "lean D" column.  Former President Trump endorsed Bolduc in an Oct. 31 post on "Truth Social."

Among the outsiders campaigning for Bolduc were former Vice President Mike Pence (Sept. 15), former South Carolina Governor and ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley (Sept. 23, Oct. 18 and Nov. 6) and former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Oct. 17).  First Lady Jill Biden (Oct. 29) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Nov. 4) campaigned for Hassan.

Hassan did enjoy a huge financial advantage over Bolduc; her campaign raised $41.4 million, spent $41.3 million and had cash on hand of less than $200,000, while the Bolduc campaign reported just $4.2 million raised, $4.1 million spent and cash on hand of a bit more than $100,000 (>).  Outside groups poured money into the race, with 11 groups spending more than $1 million.  On the Democratic side leading spenders were Senate Majority PAC ($12.6M), DSCC ($5.7M), LCV Victory Fund ($3.2M), Women Vote! ($2.6M) and EDF Action Votes ($1.6M) and on the Republican side Senate Leadership Fund ($16.0M), White Mountain Super PAC ($4.6M), NRSC ($2.9M), Our American Century ($2.2M), Sentinel Action Fund ($1.8M) and Restoration PAC ($1.1M).


September 13 Primaries
In the Democratic primary, Hassan won 93.4% of the vote over two little known challengers.  National Republicans had hoped to recruit Gov. John Sununu to challenge Hassan, but he announced in a Nov. 9, 2021 news conference that he would instead seek another term as Governor (>).  Eleven candidates qualified for the Republican primary ballot.  Leading the field were Bolduc, who finished second in the 2020 Republican U.S. Senate primary, and state Senate President Chuck Morse. 

Bolduc, from Stratham, served 33 years active duty in the U.S. Army including 10 tours in Afghanistan.  More recently he has focused on post traumatic stress.  Running as an outsider, Bolduc is frequently described as "far-right" or "extremist."  He backs Trump's stolen election claims and has criticized Gov. Chris Sununu as a "Chinese Communist sympathizer." 

Morse, from Salem, owns a landscaping business, has served in the Senate for 16 years and previously served in the House; he made an unsuccessful run for Executive Council in 2006.  Morse was seen as the establishment candidate.  Sununu endorsed Morse shortly before the primary.

Smith has an extensive political resume; he served one term in the State House from 1996-98, was a staffer to U.S. Sen. Bob Smith and Gov. Craig Benson, served as executive director of the Cornerstone Action advocacy group, and finished second in the 2012 Republican gubernatorial primary, before serving as Londonderry town manager. 

Through June 30, crypto-investor Bruce Fenton had raised the most ($1.6 million, almost all self funding), followed by Morse ($1.3 million), businessman Vikram Mansharamani ($831.396), Smith ($727,152) and Bolduc ($468,866). 

Bolduc, Fenton, Mansharamani, Morse and Smith engaged in a radio debate hosted by Binnie Media on Aug. 16.  Newsmax hosted a debate with Bolduc, Fenton, Morse and Smith at St. Anselm College on Aug. 24 (>).  With two weeks to go before the primary, Bolduc held a substantial lead over Morse in polls, but many were undecided.  At the end of August, White Mountain PAC, a super PAC backing Morse, weighed in with a reported $4.6 million ad buy.  Trump did not endorse, but he did praise Bolduc as a "strong guy."  Bolduc won the primary, but the outcome was closer than expected; he tallied with 37.1% followed by Morse (35.8%), Smith (11.7%), Mansharamani (7.5%) and Fenton (4.4%).

 

Campaign Managers:
Maggie Hassan:  Aaron Jacobs
(June 2021)  Communications director to Sen. Hassan, Jan. 2017-June 2021.  Communications director on Maggie Hassan for NH, Oct. 2015-Nov. 2016.  Press secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party, Feb.-Oct. 2015.  Press secretary on Gov. Hassan's re-election campaign, May 2014-Jan. 2015.  Affordable Care Act media team at the U.S. Dep't of HHS, Sept. 2013-May 2014.  Press secretary for the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force at HUD, Mar.-Sept. 2013.  Media logistics coordinator for the PIC, Dec. 2012-Jan. 2013.  Regional GOTV director for the Obama campaign in West Palm Beach, Sept.-Nov. 2012.  Media logistics staff assistant for the Democratic National Convention Committee, June-Sept. 2012.  Interned in the Office of the First Lady at the White House, June-Ag. 2011.  B.A. in political science from Brown University.

Don Bolduc:
Senior Advisor:  Rick Wiley


See also:
Jane O'Brien.  "Don Bolduc: Democrats elevated this Republican. Will it backfire?"  BBC, Nov. 7, 2022.

Harry Enten.  "Why New Hampshire may deliver a Senate surprise."  CNN, Nov. 6, 2022.

Lisa Kashinsky.  "New Hampshire isn't feeling the 2024 love."  Politico, Oct. 30, 2022.

Dan Merica.  "GOP Super PAC to stop ad spending in New Hampshire Senate race."  CNN, Oct. 21, 2022.

Tony Giorno.  "'Pop up' super PAC that spent big in New Hampshire's primary funded by Senate Leadership Fund and GOP megadonor."  Open Secrets, Oct. 17, 2022.

Natalie Allison and Burgess Everett.  "Republicans slash ad buys in N.H. Senate race as Hassan leads."  Politico, Oct. 7, 2022.

Benjamin Wallace-Wells.  "The curious case of Don Bolduc."  The New Yorker, Sept. 29, 2022.

Dan Alexander.  "Sununu does about-face on U.S. Senate candidate Bolduc."  Seacoast Current, Sept. 25, 2022.

Josh Rogers.  "Bolduc abandons false claims of stolen election, days after GOP Senate primary win."  NHPR, Sept. 15, 2022.

Taylor Giorno.  "'Pop-up' super PAC launches new attack ad targeting Bolduc in NH Senate GOP primary."  Open Secrets, Sept. 8, 2022.

Paul Steinhauser.  "Top GOP Senate super PAC spending $23 million to target Hassan in battleground New Hampshire."  Fox News, Sept. 2, 2022.

Kevin Landrigan.  "GOP establishment steps in with massive ad buy for Morse."  The New Hampshire Union Leader via Yahoo!News, Sept. 1, 2022.

Natalie Allison.  "Republican super PAC drops $4M in New Hampshire Senate primary."  Politico, Aug. 31, 2022.