New Hampshire gubernatorial election rated a Toss-Up

Welcome to the Friday, Oct. 11, Brew.

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. New Hampshire gubernatorial election rated a Toss-Up
2. 50 states in 25 days – North Carolina and Kansas
3. Did you know that there have been four separate Congresses in which control of the Senate was split evenly between Democrats and Republicans for at least part of the session?

New Hampshire gubernatorial election rated a Toss-Up

With 25 days to go until the Fall election, we’ll be bringing you coverage of the most compelling elections—the battlegrounds we expect to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive. You can catch our previous coverage of other battleground races here.

Today, we’re looking at the New Hampshire gubernatorial election on Nov. 5.

Joyce Craig (D), Kelly Ayotte (R), and Stephen Villee (L) are running in the general election. Incumbent Chris Sununu (R) did not seek re-election.

This election will help determine New Hampshire’s trifecta and triplex statuses. A state government trifecta means one party controls a state’s governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. A state government triplex means the governor, attorney general, and secretary of state are all members of the same political party. New Hampshire currently has both a Republican trifecta and triplex.

As of Oct. 8, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales, and Larry J. Sabato’s Crystal Ball all rated the election a Toss-Up.

Craig was mayor of Manchester from 2018 to 2024. Craig said as mayor she “created thousands of good-paying jobs, worked with law enforcement to reduce violent crime by nearly 40%, and delivered thousands of housing units to the city.” If elected governor, Craig said she would “give New Hampshire families the opportunities they need to succeed by strengthening our public schools, increasing affordable housing, and protecting access to abortion.”

Ayotte was New Hampshire’s attorney general from 2004 to 2009 and served in the U.S. Senate from 2011 to 2017. As attorney general, Ayotte said she worked with law enforcement and successfully prosecuted the murder of Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs. If elected governor, Ayotte said she would “ensure that New Hampshire is safe, prosperous, and free. I will fight to keep our streets safe, make New Hampshire schools number one in the country, protect our economic advantage, and not only defend our Live Free or Die spirit but strengthen it.”

Politico reported that national groups targeted the election leading up to the primary, with the Democratic Governors Association spending $9 million on advertisements criticizing Ayotte and the Republican Governors Association donating more than $2 million to Ayotte’s campaign through an affiliated group.

New Hampshire is one of two battleground states the Democratic Governors Association is targeting in 2024 with its Power to Appoint Fund, the other being North Carolina. The fund focuses on electing Democratic governors in battleground states because of their roles in appointing justices to the states’ supreme courts.

This is one of 11 gubernatorial elections taking place this year. The governor serves as a state’s top executive official and is the only executive office elected in all 50 states. There are currently 27 Republican and 23 Democratic governors. Click here for an overview of all 11 gubernatorial elections taking place this year.

50 states in 25 days – North Carolina and Kansas

Continuing our 50 states in 25 days coverage, today, we will look at what’s on the ballot in North Carolina and Kansas. Yesterday, we gave our readers a sample of what to expect in Pennsylvania and Iowa. With 15 business days between now and the final Friday before the election, let’s continue looking into what’s on the ballot across the nation.

North Carolina

Let’s start with a look at some key dates and deadlines in North Carolina.

• The deadline for registering in person, by mail, or online is today, Oct. 11. Early voting begins Oct. 17 and ends on Nov. 2.

All polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Everyone who is in line when the polls close must be allowed to vote. Voters can find polling locations here.

• On Oct. 7, the North Carolina State Board of Elections unanimously passed a resolution modifying voting rules in the 13 western counties affected by Tropical Storm Helene.

• Changes include: extending the deadline to turn in absentee ballots to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day; allowing displaced voters to submit absentee ballots to the state board office or another county’s board of elections; extending the in-person deadline to request an absentee ballot until the day before the election; and deploying assistance teams to rebuild county offices.
• According to AP, county election boards may consider the following measures: “transferring voters to other in-county precincts, creating out-of-precinct polling locations in other counties and establishing multiple voting locations within a precinct. … adding new [voting] sites or removing ones that are inaccessible, as well as adjusting site hours.”

What’s on the ballot?

• North Carolina voters will elect 14 U.S. representatives. Five U.S. House districts are open because the incumbents did not run for re-election.
• There are 10 state executive offices up for election: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, superintendent of public instruction, labor commissioner, insurance commissioner, and agricultural commissioner. All 10 elections are contested.
• All 170 seats in the Legislature are up for election, including all 120 seats in the state House and all 50 seats in the state Senate. There are 15 open seats in the House and six open seats in the Senate.
• One seat on the state supreme court and three on the intermediate appellate court are up for election. North Carolina is one of eight states that uses partisan elections at the state supreme court level and one of nine states that uses this method at the intermediate appellate court level.
• Six school districts are holding school board elections. These districts are among the 475 school districts included in Ballotpedia’s coverage of school board elections. This includes all school districts in the 100 largest cities by population and the 200 largest school districts by student enrollment.
• Municipal elections will be held in Raleigh and Winston-Salem for mayor and city council. Five counties are holding elections for register of deeds, board of commissioners, soil and water conservation district, district court judges, and superior court judges: Durham County, Forsyth County, Guilford County, Mecklenburg County, and Wake County. These are five of 80 counties included in Ballotpedia’s coverage of municipal elections.
• North Carolina is one of 26 states where we are expanding our local election coverage beyond the nation’s largest cities, school districts, and state capitals. Including those mentioned above, Ballotpedia will cover 829 local races with 1,531 total candidates for offices such as local councils and other county-level positions.
• Voters will decide on one statewide ballot measure.

Kansas

• The deadline for registering in person, by mail, or online is Oct. 15. Early voting begins Oct. 16 and ends on Nov. 4.
• All polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (local time). Everyone who is in line when the polls close must be allowed to vote. Voters can find polling locations here.

• We’ve listed Kansas’ time zone as “local time” because four of 105 counties are in the Mountain Time Zone. The remaining counties are in the Central Time Zone.
• According to USA Today, Kansas is one of 15 states to have more than one time zone.

What’s on the ballot?

• Kansas voters will elect four U.S. Representatives. One district is open because incumbent Jacob LaTurner (R) is retiring from public office.
• The Kansas State Board of Education has five seats up for election. Two incumbents are running and three seats are open.
• All 165 seats in the Legislature are up for election, including all 125 seats in the state House and all 40 seats in the state Senate. There are 20 open seats in the House and 11 open seats in the Senate.
• Seven seats on the intermediate appellate court are up for retention election. Kansas is one of 19 states that uses retention elections for at least one type of court below the supreme court level.
• Municipal elections will be held in Topeka for district attorney. Municipal elections will also be held in Sedgwick County for county clerk, district attorney, register of deeds, sheriff, and treasurer. Sedgwick County is one of 80 counties included in Ballotpedia’s coverage of municipal elections.

Want to learn more about the elections you’ll be voting in this year? Click here to use our Sample Ballot Lookup tool!

The information above is just a small snippet of the detailed information on Ballotpedia for each state. You can check out our deep dive into North Carolina’s 2024 elections here and Kansas’ 2024 elections here.

Also, make sure to check back to our hub page, linked below, for future installments of the series.

Did you know that there have been four separate Congresses in which control of the Senate was split evenly between Democrats and Republicans for at least part of the session?

Here are the four Congresses with tied U.S. Senates:

• 117th Congress (2021-2023)
• 107th Congress (2001-2003)
• 83rd Congress (1953-1955)
• 47th Congress (1881-1883)

In the event of a tie in the U.S. Senate, the vice president’s tiebreaking vote allows their party to win any simple majority votes that are held across partisan lines. However, the specifics of U.S. Senate control in an evenly divided chamber, including decisions on committee chairmanships and Senate-wide staff positions, are determined by a power-sharing agreement between the leaders of both caucuses.