Thursday, June 05, 2025
39.0°F

NH governor's race spotlights leadership, loyalty to Trump

Holly Ramer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 7 months AGO
by Holly Ramer
| November 3, 2020 5:27 AM

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Republican Gov. Chris Sununu faces Democrat Dan Feltes on Tuesday after a campaign in which the candidates questioned each other’s loyalty and leadership skills.

Sununu, who is seeking a third, two-year term, ran on his experience as a manager, including leading the state during the coronavirus pandemic. But Feltes argued that Sununu didn’t do enough to protect nursing home residents or schoolchildren.

The two frequently were at odds at the Statehouse, where Feltes has represented Concord in the state Senate for three terms, most recently as majority leader. Sununu vetoed several of his challenger’s key initiatives, including a paid family and medical leave program he characterized as an income tax.

Feltes, a former legal aid lawyer, sought to portray Sununu as out of touch with the needs of working families, contrasting his upbringing in a blue-collar family with Sununu, whose political family includes a father who was governor in the 1980s and a brother who served in Congress and whose family owns Waterville Valley ski area. And he relentlessly tried to link Sununu to President Donald Trump, reminding voters that Sununu once called himself “a Trump guy through and through.”

Sununu, meanwhile, defended his family’s record of public service and said he was proud to work as the ski area’s general manager before being elected to the Executive Council and later governor. He said Feltes' background includes no management or leadership experience.

Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court brought health care to the forefront of the campaign in its final days. Feltes emphasized Sununu's past opposition to the Affordable Care Act, though the governor did sign on this year to a multi-state effort to defend the Obama-era health care law in court.

Now 45, Sununu was the youngest top executive in the country when he took office in 2017 at age 42. He was reelected in 2018 by defeating Democrat Molly Kelly 58-46%.

___

Find AP’s full election coverage at APNews.com/Election2020.

MORE IMPORTED STORIES

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu defeats Feltes to win 3rd term
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 4 years, 7 months ago
Leadership, loyalty at issue in NH gubernatorial debate
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 4 years, 7 months ago
NH Republican Gov. Sununu defeats Feltes to win 3rd term
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 4 years, 7 months ago

ARTICLES BY HOLLY RAMER

April 11, 2021 12:03 a.m.

7th man arrested in sex abuse case at youth detention center

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former youth detention center worker accused of responding to a bruised and crying teenager’s rape allegations by saying, “Look little fella, that just doesn’t happen," was arrested Thursday in the latest development in a broad investigation into the New Hampshire facility.

April 10, 2021 12:09 a.m.

7th man arrested in sex abuse case at youth detention center

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former youth detention center worker accused of responding to a bruised and crying teenager’s rape allegations by saying, “Look little fella, that just doesn’t happen," was arrested Thursday in the latest development in a broad investigation into the New Hampshire facility.

April 9, 2021 12:03 a.m.

6 charged in NH youth detention center sex abuse probe

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Six former staffers at New Hampshire’s state-run youth detention center were arrested Wednesday in connection with the abuse of 11 children over the course of a decade, including one who continued working with children for nearly 20 years after he is accused of holding a boy down while colleagues raped him.