2050 New Hampshire gubernatorial election



The 2050 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2050, to elect the Governor of New Hampshire, concurrently with various state and local elections across the United States. Republican future Vice President and New Hampshire House member Sam Bennett defeated Democrat Ava Marshall by a landslide 15% margin.

In 2049, three-term incumbent Republican James Gaffney declined to run for re-election, and early in the race, Lieutenant Governor Will Long was widely viewed as the favorite for the Republican nomination. Sam Bennett ran as a more moderate alternative to the more conservative Long, but was widely viewed as an underdog, and polling seemed to confirm this; Long won about 85% of polls for the primary, usually by 5-10 point margins.

However, Bennett defeated Long in the primary by a 2% margin, 49%-47%. In the Democratic primary, Ava Marshall, the mayor of the state's largest city Manchester, was the only major candidate, and won over 90% of the vote.

Bennett, with his moderate views and favorable Republican electoral conditions due to the incumbent Democratic president (Laura Les) was consistently viewed as having the advantage. He ended up winning in a landslide on election day, taking all but one county.