2018 New Hampshire Senate elections

← 2016 November 6, 2018 2020 →
All 24 seats in theNew Hampshire Senate 13 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Donna Soucy Chuck Morse Party Democratic Republican Leader since August 6, 2018 September 3, 2013 Leader's seat 18th 22nd Last election 10 14 Seats won 14 10 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 296,608 253,434 Percentage 53.9% 46.1% Swing 4.1% 4.4%
Results:      Democratic gain     Republican gain      Democratic hold     Republican hold
President of the Senate before election Chuck Morse Republican ElectedPresident of the Senate Donna Soucy Democratic

The2018 New Hampshire Senate election was held on November 6, 2018, concurrently with theelections for theNew Hampshire House of Representatives, to elect members to the 166th New Hampshire General Court. All 24 seats in theNew Hampshire Senate were up for election. It resulted in Democrats gaining control of both chambers of theNew Hampshire General Court, ending the total control of New Hampshire's state government that Republicans had held since the 2016 state elections.

Primary elections were held on September 11, 2018.

In the 2016 New Hampshire state elections, Republicans held on to their majority in theNew Hampshire Senate by a margin of 14–10. Republicans also maintained control of theNew Hampshire House of Representatives. In addition, RepublicanChris Sununu won the open2016 New Hampshire gubernatorial election giving theNew Hampshire Republican Party total control of the state government for the first time since Republican governorCraig Benson was defeated by DemocratJohn Lynch in the2004 New Hampshire gubernatorial election.

In the aftermath of his2016 election, then president-electDonald Trump claimed in a tweet that voter fraud had occurred in New Hampshire.^[1] In February 2017, Trump advisorStephen Miller reaffirmed that position by claiming "busing voters in to New Hampshire is widely known by anyone who’s worked in New Hampshire politics".^[2] These claims were called "baseless" by several observers.^[3]

In response to those allegations, the Republican majorities in theNew Hampshire General Court drafted bills changingvoter registration rules. Senate Bill 3 (SB 3) passed both chambers of the New Hampshire General Court on party-line votes and was signed in to law by Governor Sununu on July 10, 2017.^[4] The new law requires voters to declare a "domicile" in New Hampshire. It also included jail sentences of up to one year or a fine of up to $5,000, if voters registered and not provided necessary paperwork as proof within 10 day or 30 days in smaller towns.^[5] Republicans pointed to over 5,000 voters who voted in the 2016 election after identifying with an out-of-state driver's licence, that have not gotten an in-state licence as of September 2017.^[6] Democrats suspected a voter suppression scheme, that targeted college students, that they think are most likely to use identification issued by other states.^[7]

The League of Women Voters, the New Hampshire Democratic Party and several college students challenged the new law in court.^[5] They pointed to theSupreme Court's decision inSymm v. United States, that guaranteed college students the right to vote at their university. The trial judge of the Hillsborough Superior Court decided on October 22, 2018, that the state cannot apply the law in the upcoming elections.^[8] TheAttorney General of New Hampshire's office then filed an emergency motion with theNew Hampshire Supreme Court.^[9] The State Supreme Court sided with the state in a unanimous 5-0 decision arguing that overturning the law so close to elections was potentially confusing and disruptive.^[10] The State Supreme Court did not decide on the merits of the law in this decision.^[9] Therefore, SB3 was first applied in the 2018 elections.

In the2018 elections, Democrats saw gains in state elections across the countries, gaining multiple Governorships and legislative chambers. Democrats also won control of theUnited States House of Representatives for the first time since 2010. Commentators called the election results a "blue wave", that was especially pronounced in state elections.^[12][13]

In the New Hampshire Senate, Democrats were able to flip Districts 9, 11, 12, 23 and 24, while the Republicans flipped District 1. The Democratic gains were mostly in less rural areas in Southern and Eastern New Hampshire while the Republican gains were limited to the ruralSenate District 1 in theNorth Country. The incumbent Democratic senator in District 1,Jeff Woodburn, had been accused of domestic violence and criminally charged a few months before the election.^[14][15]

Source: Official results.^[16]

Parties		Candidates	Seats				Popular vote
			2016	2018	+/-	Strength	Vote	%	Change
	Democratic	24	10	14	4	58.33%	296,608	53.77%	4.13%
	Republican	23	14	10	4	41.67%	253,412	45.94%	4.42%
	Libertarian	3	0	0		0.00%	1,461	0.26%	0.26%
	Independent	1	0	0		0.00%	1,103	0.03%	0.03%
Total		51	24	24	0	100.00%	551,629	100.00%	-

Incumbent Democratic state senatorJeff Woodburn had represented theNew Hampshire's 1st State Senate District since 2012. Senator Woodburn had also served as Senate Minority Leader since 2014. Woodburn was arrested on August 2, 2018, on simple assault, domestic violence, criminal mischief, and criminal trespass charges. Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley called on him to resign.^[17] On August 6, Woodburn announced he would resign as the minority leader but would remain as a senator.^[18] He won the Democratic primary on September 11, 2018, but was defeated by RepublicanDavid Starr in the 2018 general election.

Incumbent Republican state senatorBob Giuda had represented theNew Hampshire's 2nd State Senate District since 2016. He won reelection against Democrat Bill Bolton.

Incumbent Republican state senatorJeb Bradley had represented theNew Hampshire's 3rd State Senate District since 2009. He won reelection against Democrat Christopher Meier and Libertarian Tania Butler.^[19]

Incumbent Democrat State SenatorDavid Watters had represented theNew Hampshire's 4th State Senate District since 2012. He was reelected without opposition.

Incumbent Democratic state senatorMartha Hennessey had represented theNew Hampshire's 5th State Senate District since 2016. She won reelection against Republican Patrick Lozito.

Incumbent Republican state senatorJames Gray had represented theNew Hampshire's 6th State Senate District since 2016. He won reelection against Democrat Anne Grassie.

Incumbent Republican state senatorHarold F. French had represented theNew Hampshire's 7th State Senate District since 2016. He won reelection against Democrat Mason Donovan.

Incumbent Republican state senatorRuth Ward had represented theNew Hampshire's 8th State Senate District since 2016. She won reelection against Democrat Jenn Alford-Teaster.

Incumbent Republican state senatorAndy Sanborn had represented theNew Hampshire's 9th State Senate District since 2010. He did not run for reelection in 2018. Instead, he ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary forNew Hampshire's 1st congressional district. The open seat was won by DemocratJeanne Dietsch against Republican Dan Hynes.

Incumbent Democratic state senatorJay Kahn had represented theNew Hampshire's 10th State Senate District since 2016. He won reelection against Republican Dan LeClair and Libertarian Ian Freeman.^[19]

Incumbent Republican state senatorGary L. Daniels had represented theNew Hampshire's 11th State Senate District since 2014. He was defeated for reelection by Democratic state representativeShannon Chandley.

Incumbent Republican state senatorKevin Avard had represented theNew Hampshire's 12th State Senate District since 2014. He was defeated for reelection by former Democratic state representativeMelanie Levesque.

Incumbent Democratic state senatorBette Lasky had represented theNew Hampshire's 13th State Senate District since 2012. She did not run for reelection in 2018. The open seat was won by DemocratCindy Rosenwald against Republican David Schoneman.

Incumbent Republican state senatorSharon Carson had represented theNew Hampshire's 14th State Senate District since 2008. She won reelection against Democrat Tammy Siekmann.

Incumbent Democratic state senatorDan Feltes had represented theNew Hampshire's 15th State Senate District since 2014. He won reelection against Republican Pamela Ean.

Incumbent Democratic state senatorKevin Cavanaugh had represented theNew Hampshire's 16th State Senate District since a 2017 special election. He won reelection in a rematch against former Republican state senatorDavid Boutin.

Incumbent Republican state senatorJohn Reagan had represented theNew Hampshire's 17th State Senate District since 2012. He won reelection against Democrat Christoper Roundy.

Incumbent Democratic state senatorDonna Soucy had represented theNew Hampshire's 18th State Senate District since 2012. She won reelection against Republican state representativeGeorge Lambert.

Incumbent Republican state senatorRegina Birdsell had represented theNew Hampshire's 19th State Senate District since 2014. She won reelection against Democrat Kristina Durocher.

Incumbent Democratic state senatorLou D'Allesandro had represented theNew Hampshire's 20th State Senate District since 1998. D'Allesandro is the longest-serving member of the body. He won reelection against RepublicanCarla Gericke.

Incumbent Democratic state senatorMartha Fuller Clark had represented theNew Hampshire's 21st State Senate District since 2012. She won reelection against Republican Peter Macdonald.

Incumbent Republican state senatorChuck Morse had represented theNew Hampshire's 22nd State Senate District since 2010. He won reelection against Democrat Richard O'Shaughnessy and Libertarian Mitch Dyer.^[19]

Incumbent Republican state senatorBill Gannon had represented theNew Hampshire's 23rd State Senate District since 2014. He was defeated for reelection by DemocratJon Morgan.

Incumbent Republican state senatorDaniel Innis had represented theNew Hampshire's 24th State Senate District since 2016. He was defeated for reelection by Democratic state representativeTom Sherman.

• List of New Hampshire General Courts

• New Hampshire Senate elections
• 2018 New Hampshire elections
• 2018 state legislature elections in the United States

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