Race to replace GOP governor in swing state on tap as primary season comes to a close on Tuesday

NEWFIELDS, N.H. — After six months of contests, the final states hold primaries in the 2024 election cycle as voters in Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island head to the polls on Tuesday.

And grabbing the most attention, the competitive and combustible Republican and Democrat gubernatorial primaries in New Hampshire in the race to succeed GOP Gov. Chris Sununu, who isn't running for re-election after winning four straight two-year terms as the Granite State governor.

And the race in New Hampshire, a perennial general election swing state, is considered by political pundits as the only competitive governor's race in the nation this year.

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Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire is interviewed by Fox News Digital on July 11, 2024, in Newfields, N.H. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

The polling and fundraising front-runner for the Republican nomination is former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a former state attorney general who narrowly lost her Senate re-election in 2016 after breaking with former President Trump after the release of the infamous "Access Hollywood" video.

But Ayotte endorsed Trump this year as he runs to win back his old job in the White House.

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Her opponent, former state Senate President Chuck Morse, has spotlighted his conservative credentials and his support for Trump. But the former president stayed neutral in the race.

Ayotte, who received Sununu's endorsement this summer, told Fox News earlier this year that "the path that Gov. Sununu has us on is one of prosperity, one of more freedom. … I want us to continue down that path. I appreciate his leadership and the work that he’s done, and I want to continue his success for this state."

Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, the front-runner for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in New Hampshire, speaks with voters at the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival on Sept. 7, 2024. (Kelly Ayotte campaign)

Morse has repeatedly questioned Ayotte's conservative credentials as a senator and her support for Trump.

"I think there’s a big difference between myself and Kelly Ayotte," Morse said this summer. "I started as a conservative, and I finished as a conservative as Senate president, and I promise you, I will be a governor that’s a conservative. … That’s not what Kelly did when she went to Washington."

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Ayotte, pushing back on Morse's attacks, has pointed to Morse's unsuccessful bid in 2022 for the GOP Senate nomination, and she added that "I’ve known Chuck a long time, and this is a sad way for him to end his political career."

Former New Hampshire state Senate President Chuck Morse, who's running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, shakes hands with voters at the Milford, N.H., Labor Day parade on Sept. 2, 2024. (Chuck Morse gubernatorial campaign)

The winner of the Republican nomination will face off in an eight-week sprint to the general election against either former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig or Cinde Warmington, the only Democrat on New Hampshire's Executive Council, which is an elected five-member panel that approves state agency heads, judges and major state contracts.

Similar to the Republican gubernatorial primary, the Democrat's nomination battle has also turned into a war of words.

In a state hard hit by the opioid crisis, Craig recently released an ad criticizing Warmington's past work as a lobbyist for drugmaking giant Purdue Pharma, known for producing the controversial painkiller OxyContin.

Warmington fired back with an ad of her own as she charged that Craig went on the attack to deflect from her record of steering New Hampshire's largest city through crime and homelessness crises.

Democrat Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire marches in an Independence Day parade on July 4, 2022, in Amherst, N.H. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

Also grabbing the spotlight in New Hampshire is an ugly primary battle in the race to succeed retiring six-term Democrat Rep. Annie Kuster in the 2nd Congressional District, which covers the western half and northern region of the state.

Kuster is backing Colin Van Ostern, a former staffer and former executive councilor who narrowly lost the 2016 gubernatorial election to Sununu.

Former four-term Gov. John Lynch is supporting Van Ostern's rival, Maggie Goodlander, a former top lawyer in President Biden’s administration who served as a deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department and who is married to Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.

Lynch originally backed Van Ostern but switched to Goodlander, saying "I think his campaign is one of the nastiest I’ve seen in my fifty years of being involved in elections here in New Hampshire."

Democrat candidates in New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District Maggie Goodlander and Colin Van Ostern take part in a primary debate on June 7, 2024, in Manchester, N.H. (NH Today Show)

The Democratic congressional primary turned ugly with an attack ad targeting Goodlander for past donations to "pro-life" Republicans. There have also been carpetbagger allegations directed at Goodlander, who was born in the district but hadn't lived in decades, and, through her husband, also has connections to top national Democrats, including former President Clinton and former Secretary of State and 2016 Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Goodland has also faced criticism for going negative first, after an aligned super PAC took aim in an ad at Van Ostern, who enjoys the support not only of Kuster but a number of leading state Democats.

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Vikram Mansharamani, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2022 GOP Senate nomination, and Lily Tang Williams, who’s making her second straight bid for the congressional nomination, are considered the front-runners in a crowded Republican primary field.

Delaware also has an open-seat gubernatorial race, as Democrat Gov. John Carney is term limited. Carney, who won three terms as Delaware's lone member of the U.S. House before serving two terms as lieutenant governor and later won election and re-election as governor, is running instead as mayor of Wilmington, the state's largest city.

Gov. John Carney of Delaware (Rachel Wisniewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and National Wildlife Federation CEO and former state Natural Resources Secretary Collin O’Mara are running in the Democrat primary to succeed Carney. 

Retired police officer Jerry Price, state House Minority Leader Michael Ramone and small business owner Bobby Williamson are seeking the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

There are also primaries for the open lieutenant governor's seat and for the state's U.S. House seat as Democrat Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester - who made history in 2016 as the first Black person to represent Delaware in Congress - is running to succeed retiring Sen. Tom Carper, a fellow Democrat.

In the race to succeed Blunt Rochester, Democratic state Sen. Sarah McBride is expected to easily secure her party's nomination as she takes another step in the deep blue state towards becoming the first transgender member of Congress.

In Rhode Island, Democrat Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse faces a long-shot primary challenge from Mike Costa, a former GOP gubernatorial candidate.

State Rep. Patrick Morgan is the front-runner for the GOP Senate nomination and would face a steep uphill climb to defeat Whitehouse in November's general election in the reliably blue state.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.