Ayotte won a second two-year term as New Hampshire’s governor, two years after returning to lead the state.
Kelly Ayotte, 58, has held nearly every big job in New Hampshire public life. She was the state’s attorney general from 2004 to 2009, then a U.S. senator from 2011 to 2017, where she worked on defense and foreign policy and was talked about as a possible vice-presidential pick. She lost her Senate seat by about 1,000 votes in 2016, spent years in business and on corporate boards, and came back to win the governorship in 2024.
New Hampshire’s two-year terms — the shortest in the country — mean its governors are almost always campaigning. Ayotte now gets two more years.
Watch the state’s housing shortage and her budget fights with a closely divided legislature, where a handful of votes can flip control of the State House.
Fast facts
- Age: 58
- Party: Republican
- Office: Governor of New Hampshire
- State: New Hampshire
- Previous job: Governor of New Hampshire (since 2025); former U.S. senator and state attorney general
- Called by AP: verified in the desk’s 1:30 a.m. ET check, Nov. 4
Part of the Zark News Election 2026 winners profile series. Winners are listed as called by the Associated Press.
