2012 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

The 2012 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election, U.S. House elections, and various state and local elections.
Four-term incumbent governor John Lynch was eligible to seek a fifth term. In the fall of 2011, Lynch announced that he would retire rather than run for re-election. On September 11, 2012, Democrat Maggie Hassan and Republican Ovide Lamontagne defeated primary opponents to win their parties' nominations. Hassan won the election while carrying every county in the state and began the two-year term on January 3, 2013.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Jackie Cilley, former state Senator
Maggie Hassan, former majority leader of the New Hampshire Senate
Bill Kennedy, firefighter and retired Air Force officer

Declined

Mark Connolly, former director of the New Hampshire's Bureau of Securities Regulation
Tom Ferrini, mayor of Portsmouth
Gary Hirshberg, chairman and former CEO of Stonyfield Farm
John Lynch, incumbent governor
Steve Marchand, former mayor of Portsmouth
Phil McLaughlin, former state Attorney General
Terry Shumaker, lawyer and former United States Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago

Republican primary

Candidates

Ovide M. Lamontagne, attorney, 1992 congressional candidate, nominee for governor in 1996 and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010
Kevin H. Smith, conservative activist and former state Representative
Robert Tarr

Declined

Bill Binnie, businessman and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010
Jeb Bradley, New Hampshire Senate Majority Leader and former U.S. Representative
Peter Bragdon, state Senate President
Ted Gatsas, Mayor of Manchester
Steve Kenda, businessman
John Lyons, chairman of the New Hampshire Board of Education
John Stephen, former Health and Human Services Commissioner and Republican nominee for governor in 2010

General election

Candidates

John Babiarz, businessman and party nominee for governor in 2000, 2002, and 2010
Maggie Hassan, former majority leader of the New Hampshire Senate
Ovide Lamontagne, attorney, Republican nominee for governor in 1996, and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010

Debates

, C-SPAN, September 14, 2012
, C-SPAN, October 8, 2012

Polling

With Cilley

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jackie Cilley	Ovide Lamontagne	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	August 9–12, 2012	1,055	± 3.0%	42%	42%	—	16%
WMUR/University of New Hampshire	August 1–12, 2012	555	± 4.2%	31%	35%	1%	33%
Rasmussen Reports	June 20, 2012	500	± 4.5%	39%	41%	—	20%
Public Policy Polling	May 10–13, 2012	1,163	± 2.9%	38%	38%	—	24%
WMUR/University of New Hampshire	April 9–20, 2012	486	± 4.4%	31%	30%	1%	38%

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jackie Cilley	Kevin Smith	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	August 9–12, 2012	1,055	± 3.0%	39%	38%	—	23%
WMUR/University of New Hampshire	August 1–12, 2012	555	± 4.2%	31%	28%	1%	39%
Rasmussen Reports	June 20, 2012	500	± 4.5%	39%	37%	—	24%
Public Policy Polling	May 10–13, 2012	1,163	± 2.9%	37%	32%	—	31%
WMUR/University of New Hampshire	April 9–20, 2012	486	± 4.4%	30%	23%	1%	47%

With Smith

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Maggie Hassan	Kevin Smith	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	August 9–12, 2012	1,055	± 3.0%	42%	39%	—	20%
WMUR/University of New Hampshire	August 1–12, 2012	555	± 4.2%	31%	29%	1%	39%
Rasmussen Reports	June 20, 2012	500	± 4.5%	36%	39%	—	25%
Public Policy Polling	May 10–13, 2012	1,163	± 2.9%	37%	31%	—	32%
WMUR/University of New Hampshire	April 9–20, 2012	486	± 4.4%	29%	24%	1%	46%

With Kennedy

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Bill Kennedy	Ovide Lamontagne	Other	Undecided
WMUR/University of New Hampshire	August 1–12, 2012	555	± 4.2%	29%	35%	1%	36%

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Bill Kennedy	Kevin Smith	Other	Undecided
WMUR/University of New Hampshire	August 1–12, 2012	555	± 4.2%	27%	29%	1%	44%

With Bradley

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mark Connolly	Jeb Bradley	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	30%	38%	—	31%

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Maggie Hassan	Jeb Bradley	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	33%	39%	—	28%

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Steve Marchand	Jeb Bradley	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	32%	38%	—	31%

With Connolly

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mark Connolly	Ovide Lamontagne	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	34%	40%	—	26%

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mark Connolly	John Stephen	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	36%	36%	—	28%

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mark Connolly	John E. Sununu	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	36%	44%	—	20%

With Gatsas

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Maggie Hassan	Ted Gatsas	Other	Undecided
WMUR/University of New Hampshire	January 25-February 2, 2012	495	± 4.4%	27%	29%	1%	43%

With Lynch

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	John Lynch	Jeb Bradley	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	54%	35%	—	11%
Public Policy Polling	March 31-April 3, 2011	769	± 3.5%	57%	33%	—	10%

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	John Lynch	Ovide Lamontagne	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	54%	36%	—	10%
Public Policy Polling	March 31-April 3, 2011	769	± 3.5%	57%	33%	—	10%

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	John Lynch	John Stephen	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	55%	34%	—	11%
Public Policy Polling	March 31-April 3, 2011	769	± 3.5%	57%	29%	—	14%

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	John Lynch	John E. Sununu	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	51%	40%	—	8%
Public Policy Polling	March 31-April 3, 2011	769	± 3.5%	54%	36%	—	11%

With Marchand

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Steve Marchand	Ovide Lamontagne	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	33%	40%	—	27%

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Steve Marchand	John Stephen	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	34%	36%	—	30%

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Steve Marchand	John E. Sununu	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	35%	44%	—	21%

With Stephen

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Maggie Hassan	John Stephen	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	36%	37%	—	27%

With Sununu

Poll source	Date administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Maggie Hassan	John E. Sununu	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	June 30-July 5, 2011	662	± 3.8%	36%	45%	—	19%

Results

By county

Counties that swung from Republican to Democratic

Rockingham

By congressional district

Hassan won both congressional districts.

District	Hassan	Lamontagne	Representative
	52.98%	44.43%	Carol Shea-Porter
	56.38%	40.66%	Annie Kuster