From DC to Concord

While she waits for a Republican candidate to emerge as her challenger in the 2014 race, one-term New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan has to feel good about her reelection chances heading into next year. In the Granite State, the party of the sitting president has won election to the governor’s office in 25 of the last 30 races dating back to 1954, or 83 percent of the time. One wrinkle: three of those cycles took place within the last 10 years with the election of Democrat John Lynch to his first (2004), second (2006), and third (2008) terms during the George W. Bush era. In the 25 cycles prior to 2004, only twice was a New Hampshire governor elected from a party other than the sitting president: in 1968 (Republican Walter Peterson) and 1994 (incumbent Republican Steve Merrill).