Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan vies against Republican Don Bolduc in the New Hampshire's US Senate race
Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire is running for reelection to a second term.
The incumbent lawmaker faces Republican nominee Don Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general.
Hassan, a former two-term governor, has so far raised at least $36 million for her campaign.
Democratic US Sen. Maggie Hassan — who was first elected to represent New Hampshire in the upper chamber in 2016 — faces retired Army Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc in the November general election as she seeks a new six-year term.
New Hampshire's Senate race candidates
Hassan, a former state lawmaker and two-term governor, is aiming to secure a second term in the Senate.
In the upper chamber, Hassan serves on the Finance Committee; the Veterans' Affairs Committee; the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; and the Joint Economic Committee.
In the evenly-divided Senate, Hassan's vote has proved be to critical for the passage of a number of major Democratic-led legislative items, including the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, which both passed through the reconciliation process without any Republican support.
But the senator has also sought to work with Republicans on a range of bills.
In 2021, the Lugar Center and The McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University ranked Hassan as the most bipartisan senator; she attracted a GOP cosponsor for 48 of the bills that she introduced that year.
Bolduc — who served in Afghanistan and received two Purple Hearts and five Bronze Stars — is the Republican standard-bearer in this year's Senate race.
At one time, GOP Gov. Chris Sununu was thought to be the likely nominee for the Senate seat, but late last year, he announced that he wouldn't enter the race and would instead seek ihs fourth two-year term as governor.
Sununu was deeply critical of Bolduc during the GOP primary campaign and eventually endorsed state Sen. Chuck Morse, who narrowly lost to Bolduc in the September contest.
Bolduc — who in the past has embraced former President Donald Trump's debunked claims about the 2020 election — said on Fox News after his primary victory last month that he had "come to the conclusion" that the race "was not stolen."
"People live and learn," he added.
Trump has not formally endorsed Bolduc, who is running on a platform of aggressive border protection, domestic energy production, gun rights, and reduced federal government spending.
Another issue for Bolduc was his failure to file a mandatory personal financial report this year, doing so only after Insider reported on his failure to file.
New Hampshire's voting history
In 2016, Hassan defeated then-Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte by 1,017 votes out of roughly 708,000 ballots cast in what was the closest US Senate race that year.
Hassan ran as a moderate — similar to her campaigns for governor — which is the general ideological route for Democrats running for statewide office in proudly independent, tax-averse New Hampshire.
On the presidential level, the state last backed a Republican nominee in 2000, when then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush eked out a 1% win over then-Vice President Al Gore.
Since 2004, the state has voted for Democratic presidential nominees. In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton narrowly carried New Hampshire over Trump 48% to 47%; four years later, now-President Joe Biden easily won the state over Trump 53% to 45%.
Over the years, New Hampshire governor's office and its US House and US Senate seats frequently flip back and forth between Democrats and Republicans.
Libertarians and increasingly far-right, libertarian-minded "Free Staters" also have a small, but vocal presence in New Hampshire. During the 2020 US Senate election that Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen won, more than 18,400 voters — about 2.3% — cast ballots for Libertarian candidate Justin O'Donnell.
The money race
According to OpenSecrets, Hassan has raised $38.3 million, spent nearly $36.2 million, and has roughly $2.3 million in cash on hand as of October 19. Bolduc has raised $2.2 million for his Senate bid, spent $1.9 million and has $349,542 in cash on hand, as of October 19.
As of late October, super PACs, politically active nonprofit organizations, and other non-candidate groups had combined to spend an additional $49.7 million advocating for or against the candidates, including during the primary process.
What experts say
The New Hampshire race is rated as "tilt Democratic" by Inside Elections, "lean Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
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