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.
Candidates
Jackie Cilley, former state Senator
Maggie Hassan, former majority leader of the New Hampshire Senate
Bill Kennedy, firefighter and retired Air Force officer
Mark Connolly, former director of the New Hampshire's Bureau of Securities Regulation
Tom Ferrini, the 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
Candidates
Ovide M. Lamontagne, attorney, 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
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
Candidates
John Babiarz (Libertarian), businessman and party nominee for Governor in 2000, 2002, and 2010
Maggie Hassan (D), former majority leader of the New Hampshire Senate
Ovide Lamontagne (R), attorney, Republican nominee for Governor in 1996, and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010
Complete video of debate, C-SPAN, September 14, 2012
Complete video of debate at C-SPAN, October 8, 2012
Note: The ±% column reflects the change in total number of votes won by each party from the previous election. Neither the vote shares nor turnout figures account for write-ins. Turnout percentage is the portion of registered voters (791,434 as of 10/15/2012) who voted.
