Candidate · November 3, 2026

Kelly Ayotte

On the ballot for Governor · New Hampshire

RepublicanIncumbent
issues with public statements
8

§1On the ballot

Why this matters: This is exactly how the candidate appears on your ballot, from the state's official candidate list.

OfficeGovernor · New Hampshire1,2
Party on the ballotRepublican1,2,3
StatusIncumbent
Also on the ballot

§2Who they are

Why this matters: Background and experience help you judge how someone might do the job. These come from public records and the candidate's own materials.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Kelly Ayotte became New Hampshire's 83rd governor in January 2025.4,5 She was New Hampshire's attorney general from 2004 to 2009 and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, serving one term.4,5 She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Pennsylvania State University and a law degree from Villanova University School of Law.5 She lives in Nashua, her hometown.4

Why they say they're running

Her campaign website says she is working to keep New Hampshire safe, prosperous and free, including by tackling the housing shortage, strengthening schools and protecting the state's most vulnerable residents.6

Websites and accounts

§3What they've said on the issues

Why this matters: These are positions the candidate has stated publicly — on their campaign website or in public statements — summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Issues they haven't spoken about publicly are left out.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Each issue has its own range of views. A position is marked on that range only when the candidate's own statement clearly matches one option; there is no overall left–right score.

Taxes and Budget

State income tax

Her campaign website says she is holding the line against new taxes, with no income tax and no sales tax, ever.7

  1. Add or raise taxes on the highest incomes (for example, a tax on income over $1 million)
  2. Keep current rates
  3. Cut rates or move to a single flat rate
  4. Phase out the state income tax
Marked: the option their statement matches.
State sales taxes

Her campaign website says there will be no sales tax and that she has vetoed what it calls hidden sales taxes.4,7

  1. Lower sales tax rates or stop taxing necessities such as groceries
  2. Keep current sales taxes
  3. Raise sales taxes or apply them to more goods and services, to replace other taxes or fund state programs
Marked: the option their statement matches.

Education

State K-12 school funding

Her campaign website says she is investing more money per student than ever before and providing historic support for special education.4

Books in school libraries

Her campaign website says she has vetoed bills including what it calls book bans.4

Housing

Zoning and new housing

Her campaign website says she signed new laws to make it faster and easier to build housing.4,7

Family and Social Policy

Child care costs

Her campaign website says she fully funded and expanded child care scholarships.4,7

Crime, Policing and Prisons

Cash bail and pretrial release

Her campaign website says she fixed what it calls New Hampshire's broken bail system.4,7

Immigration

State and local role in immigration enforcement

Her campaign website says that when local concerns about a planned Department of Homeland Security facility in Merrimack were not being acknowledged, she got the facility canceled.4

§4Money

Why this matters: Campaigns report where their money comes from and how much they have left.

Candidates for governor file campaign-finance reports with the state, not the FEC, so this guide doesn't include their fundraising. Search the state's reports: Campaign finance system search — New Hampshire Secretary of State.8