Primary season ends: 5 takeaways from races in New Hampshire and beyond

The last of this year’s state and congressional primaries wrapped up on Tuesday with a gubernatorial race set and one likely future lawmaker set to make history.

Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig (D) won their parties’ nominations to compete for the first open New Hampshire governor’s race in eight years, while a former Biden administration official fended off some controversy surrounding her finances to win her primary for an open House seat representing the state.

And Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride (D) will very likely become the first openly transgender member of Congress next year after coasting to an easy win in her primary for the state’s lone House seat.

Here are five takeaways from Tuesday’s last round of primaries:

Competitive New Hampshire governor race is set 

One of the only competitive governor’s races this year was set Tuesday when Ayotte and Craig prevailed in their respective primaries. The race is expected to be hotly contested in a state that has leaned Democratic on the federal level but has had a Republican governor, Chris Sununu, for the past eight years. 

Sununu decided against seeking a fifth two-year term, New Hampshire being one of only two states in the country that elects a governor every two years. 

Ayotte comfortably defeated former New Hampshire Senate President Chuck Morse to win the GOP primary. She had Sununu’s support and pledged to follow the outgoing governor’s legacy if elected. 

Ayotte, who served as a U.S. senator representing the state for one term before narrowly losing reelection in 2016, had previously kept her distance from former President Trump when he was first running for president before endorsing him this year, like Sununu. 

Craig, meanwhile, advanced in a close race over New Hampshire Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington. Craig had endorsements from New England Democrats like New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. 

An ex-Biden official makes it through nasty primary 

Maggie Goodlander, a former Justice Department official serving in the Biden administration, won what became a tense primary battle for the Democratic nomination to succeed retiring Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.). 

Goodlander defeated former state Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern (D), who was Kuster’s chosen successor, for the nomination to represent New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District. The race revealed some intraparty tensions, with Hillary Clinton and the abortion rights group EMILY’s List supporting Goodlander and Kuster backing Van Ostern. 

Goodlander, who is married to national security adviser Jake Sullivan, faced a couple controversies surrounding her candidacy in the lead-up to the primary. 

Van Ostern released an ad attacking Goodlander over abortion, featuring Kuster herself questioning Goodlander’s commitment to reproductive rights. The incumbent has argued that Goodlander’s past donations to a couple Republicans undermine her credibility on the issue. 

Questions also swirled around Goodlander’s personal financial disclosure that listed multiple assets that can be easily identified as “undetermined,” putting in doubt the actual value of the assets she holds. Those assets included checking, retirement and investment accounts, cash bonds and several properties. 

A spokesperson for the campaign suggested to The Hill in response to the questions that an amendment to the disclosure would be coming. 

But despite the controversies, Goodlander was able to win reasonably comfortably and is in a strong position to win the general election in a district Decision Desk HQ considers “likely Democrat.” 

McBride poised to make history 

Sarah McBride has already broken down multiple barriers, being the first openly transgender person to speak at a major party convention when she appeared at the Democratic convention in 2016, as well as the first openly transgender state senator in the country. 

And now she appears likely to make history again after winning the Democratic nomination for Delaware’s at-large House seat on Tuesday. 

McBride initially faced opposition for the nomination from two major candidates, but they both dropped out of the race and endorsed her as she coalesced support behind her candidacy. She will be the heavy favorite to win a term in the House in the solidly blue state. 

McBride’s candidacy comes as transgender issues have come to the forefront of national politics with many states passing laws restricting certain rights. About half of all states have passed laws banning gender-affirming care for minors and banning transgender students from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project. 

Delaware governor wins mayoral primary 

An unusual Democratic primary took place for the race to determine the next mayor of Wilmington, with outgoing Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) winning the nomination and virtually ensuring he will become mayor next year. 

Carney is completing his second term in office as governor and is not allowed to seek a third term. He made a relatively uncommon decision to run for a lower-level office in trying to lead the state’s largest city. 

He defeated former state Treasurer Velda Jones-Potter for the nomination to succeed incumbent Mayor Mike Purzycki (D), who decided not to seek a third term in office. No Republican is running for mayor, so Carney will not face any organized opposition in November. 

Carney has said he has learned while serving in office that for the state to be successful, Wilmington must be successful “as the culture hub and as the business hub,” inspiring him to seek the office. 

That’s a wrap on the primary season 

After months of primaries at the presidential, congressional and state levels, all primaries for 2024 have now concluded. General election matchups are set for November to determine which party will be in power of the presidency, the House and Senate and each individual state. 

The primaries at times exposed possible rifts in the parties. Some voters cast protest votes in the presidential primaries against Trump and Biden to signal displeasure with them, one of whom eventually dropped out of the race. 

A few incumbents were also ousted from their offices over personal or ideological disagreements. On the Republican side, House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (R-Va.) lost a closely contested primary to a Trump-backed candidate after Good had endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the GOP primary. 

For the Democrats, Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) lost their primaries to challengers after the incumbents faced criticism over their stance on the Israel-Hamas war. 

What remains to be seen is how much each party will unite behind their respective candidates in November.

But one thing is clear: It’s going to be a frenetic, and likely unpredictable, next couple of months.