Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, and Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, easily won primary races in New Hampshire on Tuesday, reinforcing the state’s status as a battleground eight weeks ahead of the general election, when the top two down-ballot races will now feature popular incumbents, one from each party.
The Associated Press called the races at 8 p.m., after polls closed an hour earlier.
President Trump visited New Hampshire the day after accepting his renomination last month, and his campaign has identified the state as a possible pickup opportunity after Mr. Trump lost it in 2016 by fewer than 3,000 votes, or less than one percentage point.
Mr. Sununu, whose favorability has been lifted all year by his handling of the coronavirus outbreak, and Ms. Shaheen, a former governor and two-term senator, both faced nominal opponents in their own parties.
Most of the campaign-season intrigue has centered on the contests to select their November challengers: the Democratic governor’s primary, featuring a candidate endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders, and the Republican Senate primary, in which Mr. Trump made an endorsement.
Neither result was known immediately on a day of reported heavy in-person turnout at some polls and a big increase in absentee ballots. More than 75,000 absentee ballots had been returned as of Monday, according to the New Hampshire secretary of state, an eightfold increase over the 2016 primary. Opening and processing absentee ballots, which could be dropped off as late as 5 p.m. Tuesday, could push the final results late into Tuesday night or Wednesday.
In the Republican Senate primary, Mr. Trump endorsed Corky Messner, a wealthy lawyer who moved full-time to the state from Denver only in 2018 and has fought off accusations of carpetbagging. Mr. Messner led his rival, Don Bolduc, a retired Army general, by a healthy margin in a Granite State Poll last week.
The primary winner will take on Ms. Shaheen, who in the same poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, held more than a 15-percentage-point lead in matchups with both Republican rivals.
In the Democratic primary for governor, Dan Feltes, the State Senate majority leader, was in a tight race with Andru Volinsky, a lawyer and education activist who was endorsed by Mr. Sanders, the Vermont senator. The support of Mr. Sanders, who won New Hampshire’s presidential primary in February, helped rally progressive voters in a contest that was little noticed compared with other face-offs this year between the Democratic left wing and the party establishment.
Mr. Volinsky broke with New Hampshire Democratic tradition and refused to take “the pledge,” a promise not to introduce sales or state income taxes. “We are the last Bernie candidate standing,” said Irene Lin, Mr. Volinsky’s campaign manager.
Despite being outspent by Mr. Feltes, Mr. Volinsky had a slight two-point lead in the Granite State Poll, within the margin of error.
But again, the primary winner will face a popular incumbent, Mr. Sununu, who has the approval of seven in 10 New Hampshire voters.
In another consequential race, Matt Mowers, who worked in the Trump administration, also received the president’s endorsement, in the Republican primary for the First Congressional District. The winner of the crowded field will take on Representative Chris Pappas, a Democrat, who is favored to hold the seat by several nonpartisan ratings analysts.
In Rhode Island, which also holds primaries on Tuesday, only one of its two congressional districts features competitive races: Representative Jim Langevin, a 10-term Democrat, faces a challenger, while Republicans are also competing to face the winner in the general election two months from now.
Last week, the president’s campaign pulled back television ads it had booked for New Hampshire this week (as did the Biden campaign). It suggests the race there may be less competitive than Mr. Trump had hoped for.
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