Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, arrives for a campaign rally at the Carrie Furnace on Nov. 4, 2024, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen | Getty Images)
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, carried the state of New Hampshire Tuesday and its four electoral votes.
Harris beat former President Donald Trump in the Granite State, the Associated Press projected; with 88 percent of the vote counted, Harris had taken 51 percent and Trump 48 percent.
This is the sixth presidential election in a row in which New Hampshire voters have chosen a Democrat for president; the last time the state voted for a Republican was in 2000 for Republican George W. Bush. In that race, a razor-thin result across the rest of the country and a protracted battle over Florida meant that New Hampshire’s four electoral votes could have handed the presidency to Democrat Al Gore had the Granite State chosen him.
But New Hampshire has played less of a swing state role in recent presidential elections, with voters often choosing Democratic presidential nominees, despite the fact that the state has also elected Republican Gov. Chris Sununu since 2016.
President Joe Biden won the state over Donald Trump by 7.35 percentage points in 2020. Hillary Clinton barely won in 2016, eking out a 0.37 percent victory with 2,736 votes, while former President Barack Obama bested Mitt Romney by 5.58 points in 2012 and John McCain by 9.61 percentage points.
In New Hampshire, Harris had a seven percentage point polling lead over Trump from the moment she was nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in August, replacing Biden. But as Election Day neared, subsequent polls suggested that Trump was gaining some ground in the state; ahead of Tuesday, Harris’s average lead had shrunk to 4.9 percent, according to a polling aggregator on the website FiveThirtyEight.
And while Trump never appeared in the state during the general election, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Trump’s vice presidential pick, gave a speech in Derry on Sunday and said his presence was a sign the Trump campaign thought New Hampshire was winnable.
“I think it suggests that we’re expanding the map,” Vance said Sunday.
Voters Tuesday were widely pessimistic, but varied widely on their concerns.
Harris supporters cited health care and reproductive rights as top drivers for their vote – and key worries if Trump is elected.
Melissa Kimball showed up to her Rochester polling place with two young nieces in tow, eager observers of the voting process. She was casting her vote with them in mind, she said.
“I have a lot of Southern family and the reproductive rights (situation) is horrible, and I don’t want to see that affect them,” she said of the girls.
But for Trump voters in New Hampshire, the economy was top of their mind outside the polls Tuesday.
Richard and Julie Landry, of Rochester, live in a multi-generational housing situation. With housing expensive, they have to. Cheryl Weber, who joined them to vote, shares the house with their kids.
For the Landrys, higher costs driven by inflation under President Biden have forced major changes.
“We buy a lot more no name brand stuff, and we look online for cheaper stuff than what is provided at the store,” said Julie Landry.
“And financially, we can’t do anything at all; there’s no more fun trips or anything,” she added.
Still, others dismissed economic concerns.
Ronald Brissette, of Nottingham, said he too has been hit by higher prices. But he said he had adapted to that.
“We just changed,” he said about his family. “Instead of going on long vacations, maybe to Florida or some other place, we take local trips and stuff.”
And while inflation has increased under Biden, Brissette said he does not believe Trump would be able to help it.
What Brissette can’t adjust to is Trump’s coarse personality, he said. As a veteran, Brissette took particular offense to Trump’s past statements denigrating former servicemen.
“I can go from filet mignon and Delmonico steaks to hot dogs and hamburgers,” he said. “That won’t affect me. But Trump is not the man for the White House.”