2016 United States House of Representatives elections in New Hampshire

The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in New Hampshire were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the two U.S. representatives from the state of New Hampshire, one from each of the state's two congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on September 13.

2016 United States House of Representatives elections in New Hampshire

← 2014 November 8, 2016 2018 →
All 2 New Hampshire seats to the United States House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 1 1 Seats won 2 0 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 336,575 316,149 Percentage 46.96% 44.11% Swing 4.50% 4.27%
Democratic gain      Democratic hold

Overview

Results of the 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in New Hampshire by district:

District	Democratic		Republican		Others		Total		Result
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
District 1	162,080	44.29%	157,176	42.95%	46,728	12.77%	365,984	100.0%	Democratic gain
District 2	174,495	49.74%	158,973	45.32%	17,324	4.94%	350,792	100.0%	Democratic hold
Total	336,575	46.96%	316,149	44.11%	64,052	8.94%	716,776	100.0%

District 1

2016 New Hampshire's 1st congressional district election

← 2014 2018 →

Nominee Carol Shea-Porter Frank Guinta Shawn O' Connor Party Democratic Republican Independent Popular vote 162,080 157,176 34,735 Percentage 44.3% 43.0% 9.5%

U.S. Representative before election Frank Guinta Republican Elected U.S. Representative Carol Shea-Porter Democratic

See also: New Hampshire's 1st congressional district

The 1st district covers the southeastern part of the state and consists of three general areas: Greater Manchester, the Seacoast and the Lakes Region. Incumbent Republican Frank Guinta, who had represented the district since 2015 and previously from 2011 to 2013, ran for re-election. He was elected with 52% of the vote in 2014, defeating Democratic incumbent Carol Shea-Porter, and the district had a PVI of R+1.

Republican primary

In May 2015, Guinta settled a case with the Federal Election Commission involving $355,000 that had been donated to him by his parents during his first House campaign in 2010. The settlement required him to return the donation and pay a $15,000 fine to the FEC.^[1] New Hampshire politicians including Republican U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte called on Guinta to resign his House seat, but he refused.^[2]

Candidates

Nominee

• Frank Guinta, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

• Richard Ashooh, businessman
• Michael Callis
• Jamieson Gradert
• Robert Risley

Withdrawn

• Dan Innis, Dean of the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire and 2014 candidate^[3]
• Pamela Tucker, state representative^[4][5]

Endorsements

Richard Ashooh

U.S. Senators

• John E. Sununu, former U.S. Senator^[6]

Newspapers

• New Hampshire Union Leader^[7]

Debate

2016 New Hampshire 1st congressional district republican primary debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Republican
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Richard Ashooh	Frank Guinta
1	Sep. 13, 2016	New Hampshire Institute of Politics New Hampshire Union Leader WMUR-TV	Josh McElveen	[8]	P	P

Results

Republican primary results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frank Guinta (incumbent)	26,400	46.5
	Republican	Richard Ashooh	25,678	45.2
	Republican	Michael Callis	2,243	4.0
	Republican	Robert Risley	1,347	2.4
	Republican	Jamieson Gradert	1,031	1.8
	Write-in		111	0.1
Total votes			56,810	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Carol Shea-Porter, former U.S. Representative who held the seat from 2007 to 2011, and again from 2013 to 2015^[10]

Withdrawn

• Shawn O'Connor, businessman (running as an Independent)^[11][12]

Declined

• Martha Fuller Clark, state senator and nominee for the seat in 2000 and 2002^[13]
• Garth Corriveau, Manchester Alderman^[11]
• Tom Ferrini, former mayor of Portsmouth^[11]
• Travis Harker, physician and former president of the New Hampshire Medical Society^[11]
• Andrew Hosmer, state senator^[13]
• Terie Norelli, state representative and former Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives^[11]
• Chris Pappas, executive councilor^[11][14]
• Stefany Shaheen, Portsmouth city councilor and daughter of U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen^[11]
• Donna Soucy, state senator^[11]

Results

Democratic primary results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carol Shea-Porter	32,409	98.8
	Write-in		386	1.2
Total votes			32,795	100.0

General election

Endorsements

Frank Guinta (R)

Organizations

• National Republican Congressional Committee "Patriot" Program^[15]
• National Rifle Association of America^[16]

Carol Shea-Porter (D)

State legislators

• Chris Pappas, executive councilor^[14]

Organizations

• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee "Red to Blue" Program^[17]
• EMILY's List^[18][19]

Debates

2016 New Hampshire 1st congressional district debates

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Democratic	Independent
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Frank Guinta	Carol Shea-Porter	Shawn O'Conner
1	Oct. 24, 2016	NH1-TV	Paul Steinhauser Keke Vencill	[20]	P	P	P
2	Nov. 3, 2016	New Hampshire Institute of Politics New Hampshire Union Leader WMUR-TV	Josh McElveen	[21]	P	P	P

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Frank Guinta (R)	Carol Shea-Porter (D)	Robert Lombardo (L)	Shawn O' Connor (I)	Other	Undecided
UMass Amherst/YouGov[22]	October 17–21, 2016	380	± ?%	37%	41%	9%	−	3%	10%
Normington Petts (D-House Majority PAC)[23]	September 18–21, 2016	400	± 4.9%	34%	44%	4%	4%	4%	10%
North Star Opinion Research (R-NRCC)[24]	September 14–18, 2016	427	± ?%	41%	38%	4%	8%	−	9%
University of New Hampshire[25]	August 20–28, 2016	211	± 6.7%	29%	48%	−	−	5%	19%
University of New Hampshire[26]	July 9–18, 2016	215	± 6.7%	37%	43%	−	−	7%	10%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Rich Ashooh (R)	Carol Shea-Porter (D)	Other	Undecided
WMUR/UNH[27]	August 20–28, 2016	211	± 6.7%	27%	50%	4%	19%
WMUR/UNH[28]	July 9–18, 2016	215	± 6.7%	29%	46%	6%	18%

Hypothetical polling

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[29]	Lean D (flip)	November 7, 2016
Daily Kos Elections[30]	Lean D (flip)	November 7, 2016
Rothenberg[31]	Tilt D (flip)	November 3, 2016
Sabato's Crystal Ball[32]	Lean D (flip)	November 7, 2016
RCP[33]	Lean D (flip)	October 31, 2016

Results

Shea-Porter narrowly flipped the seat Democratic. This, along with the narrow victory by Democrat Maggie Hassan in the concurrent Senate election, made it the first time since 1854 that New Hampshire's congressional delegation was fully represented by Democrats.

New Hampshire's 1st congressional district, 2016 ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carol Shea-Porter	162,080	44.3
	Republican	Frank Guinta (incumbent)	157,176	42.9
	Independent	Shawn O' Connor	34,735	9.5
	Independent	Brendan Kelly	6,074	1.7
	Libertarian	Robert Lombardo	5,507	1.5
	Write-in		412	0.1
Total votes			365,984	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 2

2016 New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district election

← 2014 2018 →

Nominee Ann McLane Kuster Jim Lawrence Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 174,495 158,973 Percentage 49.7% 45.3%

U.S. Representative before election Ann McLane Kuster Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Ann McLane Kuster Democratic

See also: New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district

The 2nd district covers the western and northern parts of the state and includes the cities of Nashua and Concord. Incumbent Democrat Ann McLane Kuster, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 55% of the vote in 2014, and the district had a PVI of D+3.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ann McLane Kuster, incumbent U.S. Representative

Declined

• Jim Bouley, Mayor of Concord^[11]
• Dan Feltes, state senator^[11]
• Jason Lyon, activist and businessman^[11]
• Steve Shurtleff, state representative^[11]
• Colin Van Ostern, Executive Councilor^[11] (ran for Governor)
• Mike Vlacich, campaign manager for U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen^[11]
• Jeff Woodburn, state senator^[11]

Results

Democratic primary results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ann McLane Kuster (incumbent)	36,683	99.3
	Write-in		249	0.7
Total votes			36,932	100

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jim Lawrence, former state representative and candidate for this seat in 2014

Eliminated in primary

• Eric Estevez, state representative
• Jack Flanagan, New Hampshire House Majority Leader.^[35]
• Walter Kelly, candidate for Senate in 2014
• Andy Martin, perennial candidate
• Jay Mercer
• Casey Newell

Declined

• Charles Bass, former U.S. Representative^[11]
• Marilinda Garcia, former state representative, and nominee for this seat in 2014^[11]
• Gary Lambert, former state senator and candidate for this seat in 2014

Endorsements

Jim Lawrence

Newspapers

• New Hampshire Union Leader^[36]

Debate

2016 New Hampshire 2nd congressional district republican primary debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Republican
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Jack Flanagan	Jim Lawrence
1	Sep. 8, 2016	New Hampshire Union Leader Saint Anselm College WMUR	Josh McElveen	[37]	P	P

Results

Republican primary results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Lawrence	17,180	39.7
	Republican	Jack B. Flanagan	12,046	27.8
	Republican	Walter W. Kelly	4,287	9.9
	Republican	Andy Martin	3,145	7.3
	Republican	Eric Estevez	2,443	5.6
	Republican	Jay Mercer	2,113	4.9
	Republican	Casey Newell	1,839	4.3
	Write-in		232	0.5
Total votes			43,285	100.0

General election

Endorsements

Ann McLane Kuster (D)

Organizations

• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee "Frontline" program^[38]
• EMILY's List^[19]

Debate

2016 New Hampshire 2nd congressional district debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Republican
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Annie McLane Kuster	Jim Lawrence
1	Nov. 4, 2016	New Hampshire Institute of Politics New Hampshire Union Leader WMUR-TV	Josh McElveen	[39]	P	P

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ann McLane Kuster (D)	Jim Lawrence (R)	Other	Undecided
University of New Hampshire[25]	August 20–28, 2016	222	± 6.6%	40%	34%	3%	22%
University of New Hampshire[26]	July 9–18, 2016	254	± 6.1%	38%	32%	4%	26%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ann McLane Kuster (D)	Jack Flanagan (R)	Other	Undecided
WMUR/UNH[27]	August 20–28, 2016	222	± 6.6%	40%	35%	3%	22%
WMUR/UNH[28]	July 9–18, 2016	254	± 6.1%	38%	32%	4%	26%

Hypothetical polling

Results

New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district, 2016 ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ann McLane Kuster (incumbent)	174,495	49.7
	Republican	Jim Lawrence	158,973	45.3
	Independent	John Babiarz	17,088	4.9
	Write-in		236	0.1
Total votes			350,792	100.0
	Democratic hold

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections, 2016
• United States elections, 2016

References

1. "Kelly Ayotte to Frank Guinta: Resignation is 'the right step'". Politico.com. Politico. May 18, 2015. Archived from the original on May 20, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
2. "New Hampshire Rep. Frank Guinta says he won't resign, despite calls from fellow Republicans". boston.com. The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 20, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
3. DiStaso, John (March 25, 2016). "Innis suspends congressional campaign, says family, business interests come first". WMUR. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
4. "NH INSIDER- Your Source for NH Politics - Press Releases - Pam Tucker Announces Run for NH-01". Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
5. Dan Tuohy (May 2, 2016). "Rep. Pam Tucker suspends 1st CD campaign". unionleader.com. New Hampshire Union Leader. Archived from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
6. "BRADLEY ENDORSES GATSAS; JOHN E. SUNUNU SUPPORTS ASHOOH". The Conway Daily Sun. September 6, 2016.
7. "Ashooh for Congress: Raising the bar in District 1". New Hampshire Union Leader. August 31, 2016.
8. YouTube
9. "2016 Primary Election Official Results". New Hampshire Secretary of State. September 13, 2016. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
10. DiStaso, John (September 20, 2015). "Shea-Porter announces she's running for US House again in 2016". WMUR.com. Manchester Hearst Properties Inc. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
11. John DiStaso (November 14, 2014). "Analysis: NH Democrats already have deep bench for top races in 2016". New Hampshire Journal. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
12. DiStaso, John (February 10, 2015). "Democratic political newcomer O'Connor files candidacy for 1st District U.S. House seat". NH Journal. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
13. Alexis Levinson (December 30, 2014). "10 Races to Watch in 2016: New Hampshire's 1st District". Roll Call. Archived from the original on December 31, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
14. John DiStaso (September 22, 2014). "Executive Councilor Chris Pappas won't run for US House, backs Carol Shea-Porter". wmur.com. WMUR Manchester. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
15. "Candidates". electgoppatriots.org/. National Republican Congressional Committee. Archived from the original on October 1, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
16. John DiStaso (July 28, 2016). "New Hampshire Primary Source: Hassan hits Ayotte (again) on for-profit university issue". wmur.com. WMUR Manchester. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
17. "DCCC 2016 Red to Blue Races". actblue.com. DCCC. Archived from the original on October 8, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
18. "EMILY's List Endorses Carol Shea-Porter for Congress in New Hampshire's First Congressional District". emilyslist.org. EMILY’s List. January 27, 2014. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
19. "U.S. HOUSE CANDIDATES". emilyslist.org/. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
20. C-SPAN
21. YouTube
22. UMass Amherst/YouGov
23. Normington Petts (D-House Majority PAC)
24. North Star Opinion Research (R-NRCC)
25. University of New Hampshire
26. University of New Hampshire
27. WMUR/UNH
28. WMUR/UNH
29. "2016 House Race Ratings for November 7, 2016". House: Race Ratings. Cook Political Report. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
30. "Daily Kos Elections House race ratings: Initial ratings for 2016". Daily Kos Elections. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
31. "2016 House Ratings (November 3, 2016)". House Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
32. "2016 House". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 7, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
33. "Battle for the House 2016". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
34. "2016 General Election Information and Results". New Hampshire Secretary of State Elections Division. November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
35. Landrigan, Kevin (October 22, 2015). "Landrigan: Top NH House Republican explores bid for 2nd District Congressman". Archived from the original on October 24, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
36. "Lawrence for Congress: Best choice to challenge Kuster". New Hampshire Union Leader. August 31, 2016. Archived from the original on September 1, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
37. YouTube
38. Ben Ray Lujan (February 12, 2015). "FRONTLINE DEMOCRATS 2015-2016". dccc.org/. DCCC. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
39. YouTube

External links

• U.S. House elections in New Hampshire, 2016 at Ballotpedia
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets