Democrat Maggie Hassan became only the second woman elected governor in New Hampshire, taking a surprisingly strong victory over Republican Ovide Lamontagne.
The Exeter Democrat and three-term state senator also becomes the only woman chief executive in the country who supports abortion rights, which is fitting since she made Lamontagne’s opposition to legal abortions a key line of attack against him.
This victory to replace outgoing four-term Gov. John Lynch continues a streak of eight wins for Democrats in the past nine elections for governor.
At press time, Hassan, 54, led with 56 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Lamontagne. Libertarian John Babiarz of Grafton had only 3 percent.
The defeat for Lamontagne, 55, could be his political obituary. It’s the fourth time the Manchester lawyer has lost a race for major office, including his bid for governor in 1996 that ended in failure against Jeanne Shaheen.
Hassan’s victory was complete and total as early in the evening she rolled up significant wins across the state in Republican towns such as Belmont in the Lakes Region, Epping in Rockingham County, Seabrook on the coast, Bristol in Grafton County and Northwood just east of Concord.
Meanwhile, she was rolling up large victories in the Democratic strongholds of Concord, Hanover, Portsmouth, Keene, Dover and Rochester.
She was outperforming President Barack Obama in nearly every community and doing better in town after town than Lynch had done in 2004 when he dethroned then-Republican Gov.![]()
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