New Hampshire gubernatorial election, 2020

	2022 → ← 2018
Governor of New Hampshire
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election;
Election details
	Filing deadline: June 12, 2020
	Primary: September 8, 2020; General: November 3, 2020; Pre-election incumbent(s):; Gov. Chris Sununu (R)
How to vote
	Poll times: Varies by municipality; Voting in New Hampshire
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Republican; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Republican; Inside Elections: Likely Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
	Federal and state primary competitiveness; State executive elections in 2020; Impact of term limits in 2020; State government trifectas; State government triplexes; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
New Hampshire; executive elections
	Governor; Executive Council (5 seats)

New Hampshire held an election for governor on November 3, 2020. A primary was scheduled for September 8, 2020. The filing deadline was June 12, 2020.

Incumbent Gov. Chris Sununu (R) ran for re-election. He was first elected in 2016, receiving 49 percent of the vote to Colin Van Ostern's (D) 47 percent in the general election for the open position. In 2018, Sununu received 53 percent of the vote to challenger Molly Kelly's (D) 46 percent.

New Hampshire was, at the time of the election, one of four states that both voted for Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016 and had a Republican governor. During the presidential election, Clinton received 46.8 percent of the vote to Donald Trump's (R) 46.5 percent in the state. The state was also one of 14 states with a divided government. Republicans held the governorship and Democrats controlled both the state House of Representatives and state Senate.

New Hampshire's 2020 gubernatorial and state legislative elections affected partisan control of redistricting following the 2020 census. In New Hampshire, the state legislature is responsible for drafting both congressional and state legislative district plans. District plans are subject to gubernatorial veto.

Darryl W. Perry (L) participated in a Candidate Conversation with Ballotpedia and EnCiv. Click here to watch.

For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
For more information about the Republican primary, click here.

This election was a battleground race. Other 2020 battlegrounds included:

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

New Hampshire modified its absentee/mail-in voting and candidate filing procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

Absentee/mail-in voting: Any voter could request an absentee ballot based on concerns related to COVID-19. Voters could submit one absentee ballot application for both the primary and general elections.
Candidate filing procedures: The nomination petition signature requirements for the Libertarian Party's candidates in New Hampshire's general election was reduced by 35 percent.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Candidates and results

General election

General election for Governor of New Hampshire

Incumbent Chris Sununu defeated Dan Feltes and Darryl Perry in the general election for Governor of New Hampshire on November 3, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Chris Sununu (R)	65.1	516,609
	Dan Feltes (D)	33.4	264,639
	Darryl Perry (L)	1.4	11,329
	Other/Write-in votes	0.1	683

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 793,260
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of New Hampshire

Dan Feltes defeated Andru Volinsky in the Democratic primary for Governor of New Hampshire on September 8, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Dan Feltes	52.3	72,318
	Andru Volinsky	47.4	65,455
	Other/Write-in votes	0.3	446

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 138,219
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of New Hampshire

Incumbent Chris Sununu defeated Karen Testerman and Nobody in the Republican primary for Governor of New Hampshire on September 8, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Chris Sununu	89.8	130,703
	Karen Testerman	9.3	13,589
	Nobody	0.9	1,239
	Other/Write-in votes	0.1	95

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 145,626
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles created in one of two ways. Either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey or Ballotpedia staff created a profile after identifying the candidate as noteworthy.^[1] Ballotpedia staff compiled profiles based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements.

Darryl Perry

Party: Libertarian Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "Darryl W. Perry has spent most of his adult life as an advocate & activist for peace and liberty. As a Presidential candidate in 2016, he had a goal to run the most libertarian presidential campaign in history, to promote the ideas of liberty as boldly and as often as possible, and to give as many people as possible the chance to vote for an actual libertarian in November 2016. After the Libertarian National Convention - where he placed 4th for the LP Presidential nomination - Perry formed a crowd-funded public-interest lobbyist firm, to lobby the New Hampshire Legislature in support of individual rights, minimal government and maximum freedom! Darryl served as Chair of the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire from September 2016 until April 2018. He ran the 2018 NYC Marathon on Team Innocence Project, and was to be a charity runner for Ronald McDonald's House Charities in the 2019 Chicago Marathon before being forced to withdraw in order to recover from a concussion. Darryl W. Perry is running for Governor of New Hampshire as a Libertarian on a platform of criminal justice reform, lower taxation, and ballot access reform & voting rights."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Criminal Justice Reform

Lower Taxation

Reform Ballot Access Laws and Protect Voting Rights

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Governor of New Hampshire in 2020.

Candidate Conversations

Moderated by journalist and political commentator Greta Van Susteren, Candidate Conversations is a virtual debate format that allows voters to easily get to know their candidates through a short video Q&A. Click below to watch the conversation for this race.

Campaign advertisements

This section shows advertisements released in this race. Ads released by campaigns and, if applicable, satellite groups are embedded or linked below. If you are aware of advertisements that should be included, please email us.

Chris Sununu

Supporting Sununu

"Jason" - Sununu campaign ad, released October 2, 2020

Satellite group ads

Supporting Sununu

"Bring Back Sununu" - Americans for Prosperity ad, released October 2, 2020

Opposing Sununu

"Agenda" - New Hampshire Democratic Party ad, released September 24, 2020

Opposing Feltes

"Clobber" - Republican Governors Association ad, released September 25, 2020

Campaign themes

See also: Campaign themes

Chris Sununu

Sununu’s campaign website stated the following:

“

COVID 19

In the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Chris Sununu took unprecedented action to ensure the health and safety of Granite Staters.

Took immediate action to flatten the curve and provide for the safety and well-being of Granite State families
Created the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery to oversee the fair and transparent disbursement of the $1.25 billion CARES Act funds to businesses, communities, and organizations
Disbursed $338,374,455 to New Hampshire small businesses through the Main Street Relief Fund
Built 14 flex facilities across New Hampshire with 1,662 new clinical surge beds during the COVID-19 global pandemic
Established the $600,000 Emergency Protections & Relief Fund for Domestic and Sexual Violence Organizations to ensure the continuation of services to victims during the COVID-19 global pandemic
Put forward $2 million in new funding to provide for New Hampshire’s most vulnerable children during the COVID-19 global pandemic
Established the Emergency Healthcare System Relief Fund, providing $100,000,000 in funding to ensure that New Hampshire Hospitals remained open during the COVID-19 global pandemic, with $30,000,000 allocated for long-term care facilities
Moved all Family Violence Prevention Specialists across the state from part-time to full-time positions to assist DCYF in supporting victims of domestic violence and their children during the COVID-19 global pandemic
Provided stipends to first responders, front line medicaid workers, corrections staff, and protective service workers
Historic expansion of unemployment benefits in the wake of COVID-19
Allocated $35 million in housing and utility assistance for those struggling to pay rent or utility bills due to COVID-19
Prohibited landlords from starting eviction proceedings against those unable to pay due to their financial situations during the COVID-19 State of Emergency

Economy

Under Chris Sununu's leadership and sound management, New Hampshire's economy will come back stronger than ever - without an income tax.

Historic expansion of unemployment benefits to provide financial relief to those adversely affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic
Created the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery to oversee the fair and transparent disbursement of the $1.25 billion CARES Act funds to businesses, communities, and organizations
Allocated $400,000,000 to New Hampshire small businesses through the Main Street Relief Fund
VETOED the Democrats' income tax
STOPPED a 17 cent per gallon gas tax increase
Business taxes at their lowest this century
Lowest poverty rate in the nation
Legalized sports betting, generating millions in new state review
Networked hundreds of out-of-state businesses to relocate to New Hampshire
Eliminated over 1,600 burdensome government regulations
Created the Department of Business and Economic Affairs

Education

New Hampshire’s education system is stronger than ever thanks to the investments made by Chris Sununu.

Increased education spending by $140 million
Launched the New Hampshire Career Academy, making free college tuition possible for New Hampshire high schoolers – at no cost to taxpayers
Established full-day kindergarten
Froze tuition at the University and Community College System
Returned $62 million back to cities and towns for school infrastructure projects
Returned $9 million to the University System, making a critical investment to double the amount of nurses in New Hampshire
Restarted the Nurse Practitioner Program at the Community College System
Secured $26.8 million in federal grant funding for preschool development at the University System of New Hampshire’s Early Childhood Center for Excellence
$5 million in higher education scholarships
Greater school choice for New Hampshire families
Established the New Hampshire Robotics Education Fund to prepare students for work in the 21st century

Infrastructure

Chris Sununu has returned millions in funding to cities and towns across the Granite State to invest in roads and bridges, safer schools, and clean water projects.

Zeroed out the Merrimack tolls
Invested $100 million in clean drinking water projects
Returned $40 million to cities and towns for roads and bridges
Returned $30 million to cities and towns for school infrastructure and security upgrades

Safety

Under Chris Sununu’s leadership, New Hampshire is ranked the #1 state in the Country for crimes and corrections.

Ranked the #1 state for Crimes and Corrections
Signed legislation to protect human trafficking victims and enhance penalties for sexual predators
Secured funding for the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force
Established the Governor’s School Safety Task Force
Implemented suicide prevention training in New Hampshire schools
Created the only youth drug treatment center in New Hampshire
Established a $4.5 million drug interdiction program to disrupt supply chains

Energy and Environment

As an environmental engineer, Chris Sununu works every day to protect New Hampshire’s scenic beauty and her great outdoors.

Banned offshore gas and oil drilling along New Hampshire’s coastline
Enhanced drinking water standard, setting the model for the rest of the country
Filed historic lawsuits to hold companies accountable for environmental pollution
Issued an Executive Order preparing New Hampshire for the development of offshore wind
Supported legislation that expands access to net metering, while still protecting New Hampshire ratepayers

Animal Welfare

Named the New Hampshire Humane Society’s 2019 Legislative Leader of the Year, Chris Sununu is a champion of protecting animals.

Received the New Hampshire Humane Society’s 2019 Legislative Leader of the Year Award
Received the Nashua Humane Society's 2019 Pets' Choice Award
Signed legislation into law to strengthen protections for animals
Increased penalties for those charged with animal cruelty

Health

From confronting the COVID-19 global pandemic, to combating our state’s opioid crisis, Chris Sununu has put the health and safety of New Hampshire families first.

Took unprecedented action to secure the health and safety of Granite Staters in the wake of COVID-19
Eliminated the Emergency Department Wait List
Secured funding to eliminate the Vocational Rehabilitation Wait List
Reduced the average assessment caseload for child protection social workers from a peak of 93 in January of 2016, down to 17 today
Implemented suicide prevention training in schools across New Hampshire
Integrated the Choose Love social and emotional learning curriculum in schools across New Hampshire
Signed Medicaid Expansion into law, providing coverage for 50,000 low-income Granite Staters
Greater health care choices for veterans
Fully funded the Alcohol Fund to fight substance use disorder
Created the only youth drug treatment center in New Hampshire
Launched the Recovery Friendly Workplaces program^[2]

”

—Chris Sununu’s campaign website (2020)^[3]

Dan Feltes

Feltes' campaign website stated the following:

“

Energy

Dan released his “Green Jobs, Green Future” plan to create a new clean energy economy, generate thousands of living-wage jobs, and lead the economic recovery after COVID-19. This clean energy economy will follow the leading science on climate and embrace proven technologies to help keep our children, forests, farms, seacoast, and businesses safe from the climate crisis. During his time in office, Chris Sununu has steadfastly resisted the unequivocal science of climate change, as reflected in his statements and more than a dozen vetoes of bipartisan climate and clean energy legislation.

Dan’s plan for New Hampshire’s clean energy future has three core building blocks: (1) clean, local power; (2) safe and healthy buildings; and (3) clean, reliable transportation.

1. Clean, Local Power: Every year, Granite Staters export over $4 billion for non-renewable energy to power our way of life, even though clean, local energy sources are now available at a lower cost. As governor, Dan will act swiftly to declare New Hampshire’s clean-tech economy open for business by implementing five common-sense measures, including creating a “2030 Commission with dedicated resources and robust youth, BIPOC, and building trades representation tasked with developing a plan for how to achieve 100% clean energy by 2030, empowering local distributed generation, investing in offshore wind, removing red tape, and modernizing the grid.

2. Safe and Healthy Buildings: Safe and healthy buildings are essential to New Hampshire’s families and workers. Our homes and businesses also have the power to help clean the environment by producing and using energy smartly. In the U.S., buildings account for 40% of primary energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, New Hampshire ranks dead last in the northeast on building efficiency, and energy efficiency jobs are going to other states. Dan will prioritize securing critical funding, maximizing building efficiency, phasing out fossil fuels, and making the state part of the solution.

3. Clean and Reliable Transportation: Air pollution is a silent killer that affects New Hampshire disproportionately. The state Department of Health and Human Services consistently finds rates of asthma among the highest in the nation, accounting for thousands of hospital visits and more than $177 million in annual medical costs to Granite Staters. As Governor, Dan will invest in a modern and healthy New Hampshire with electric transit corridors that serve local residents and tourists alike. From day one, Dan will make electric vehicles and mass transit top priorities with the following initiatives including going electric now, putting passenger rail back on track, and creating transit solutions for all.

Education

Dan released his “Live Free and Learn Safe” blueprint for back to school plan on July 22 to address the key issues facing our public schools in a substantive, specific manner. The “Live Free and Learn Safe” plan provides specific funding mechanisms and actions that can be taken. This is the type of guidance a Feltes administration would produce. While no plan is perfect, the “Live Free and Learn Safe” plan provides a comprehensive approach to reopening schools that prioritizes safety and support for local school districts, while maintaining the latitude for individual districts to tailor the plan to their specific situation. Specifically, the plan would provide: a census on students, educators, educational support staff, and bus drivers to determine baseline in-person numbers, a state review and enhancement of all buildings for air quality and social distancing capabilities, medical-grade PPE for educators and educational support staff, free on-site COVID-19 testing for educators and educational support staff, five cloth masks for all students, clear guidance on meals and transportation, statewide job protections for teachers that prefer remote learning, mandated masks for middle and high school students and staff, real financial support for schools, clear steps in the event of a COVID case, standing up the children’s mobile crisis unit, and more. You can read the full plan here. You can watch a live stream of the press conference here.

Democracy Reform

Dan released his “People’s Plan“; a reform agenda to increase transparency and limit the influence of money in politics. Real change comes from the grassroots, from our communities; and when the voices of those left out and left behind are finally heard. But, right now, our democracy is broken. It’s not just Washington, DC, it’s right here in New Hampshire too. The wealthy and well-connected have the power and everyday people, those without lobbyists or Governor’s cell-phone number, are left behind. It is more critical than ever that we change our system and elect leaders who are dedicated to major reforms. We need to break down the barriers for everyday people to succeed and much of that starts with the influence of lobbyists and corporate donors. This “People’s Plan” is fundamental to ensuring that government and elected officials work for the people, not special interests. The plan is broken into four sections that are fundamental to fixing our democracy. Each section includes specific policy proposals that Senator Feltes would support as Governor and that are fundamental to ensuring that government and elected officials work for the people, not special interests.

The four sections include;

Ethics and Transparency: eliminating areas for potential abuses of power and creating the systems necessary for investigating potential abuses.

Campaign Finance Reform: to put the power back in the hands of the people by limiting the type of contributions allowed, increasing disclosure requirements, and implementing systematic changes.

Protecting & Expanding Voting Rights and Ending Gerrymandering: The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy and we must do everything possible to encourage Granite Staters to participate in our process and guarantee that voters pick their elected officials, not the other way around.

Immediate COVID-19 Steps: With these current circumstances in mind, it’s critical we also include a section on immediate steps, such as voting and transparency over stimulus funds, that should be taken.

Racial Justice

Whether subtle or overt, caught on tape or not, every day our Black brothers and sisters face words, actions, and policies that rob them of the American dream. Chris Sununu says systemic racism doesn’t exist in New Hampshire. He’s wrong. It exists. And it’s not enough to not be racist, we must all be actively anti-racist.

Right out of law school, Dan worked as a legal aid attorney for about a decade prior to serving in the State Senate. There, he helped low-income families, seniors and veterans get access to health care, housing, and jobs, and fought against discrimination in employment and in housing, including taking on Wall Street banks foreclosing on homeowners all across New Hampshire during the last economic crisis — the Great Recession. Leading the Housing Justice Project for four years, he helped tackle housing discrimination in the rental and homeowner markets, co-authored the “Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice in New Hampshire”, and organized communities to battle housing practices that have a disproportionate impact on persons of color. Working together with Manchester NAACP and others, they made progress, but there is so much more work to do, together.

As Governor, Dan has committed to creating an Office of Racial Equity within the Governor’s office to identify and combat systemic racism. You can read his full plan to address racial justice here.

Health Care

Dan believes health care is a right and not a privilege. It’s critical that we continue to expand access to quality, affordable health care for everyone. Under Governor Sununu, New Hampshire has the highest health care costs in the nation, even prior to COVID-19. COVID-19 has pushed our healthcare system to the edge, with health care workers losing their jobs, some providers going out-of-business, and the remaining providers and workers struggling to provide care, while risking their own health in the process. Dan was the first to propose a Frontline Worker Fund to provide an additional hazard pay to healthcare workers on the frontlines. As Governor, Dan will shore up our healthcare system, undertake real planning with real support for healthcare, and will fight to lower healthcare costs for working families and small businesses.

At the State House, Dan has been a leader on healthcare policy. He served as a lead Democratic negotiator for the reauthorization of Medicaid Expansion in both 2016 and 2018 — protecting access to health care for over 50,000 Granite Staters. In 2016, Dan co-led a bipartisan effort to break down insurance company barriers to emergency in-patient opioid treatment. Also, as a result of legislation Dan filed in 2016, the first-ever commission to deal with mental health parity was established and the first-ever market conduct review of mental health parity was undertaken. In 2018, Dan passed landmark bipartisan legislation to combat childhood lead poisoning from both paint and water. And over several years, Dan has sponsored and gotten passed various measures helping senior citizens get better healthcare, including dementia and memory care standards and training.

In 2019, Dan introduced and passed legislation to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions by codifying provisions of the Affordable Care Act in New Hampshire law. Meanwhile, Governor Sununu supported the Trump-backed federal legislative effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In 2019, Dan was also the prime sponsor and passed the first-ever comprehensive children’s system of mental health care in New Hampshire, including a statewide mobile crisis and intervention team for children so any child in distress can receive treatment within an hour from a highly trained team. As Vice-Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and one of the state’s budget writers, Dan fought for increased funding for the public health department, so critical now in light of COVID-19.

One of the reasons New Hampshire has the highest health care costs in the nation is the lack of preventative care. That includes the absence of paid family and medical leave insurance, enabling workers to get the help, the treatment, and the timely medical care they need, without risking their families economic security. Dan has long championed paid family and medical leave insurance. Dan’s bill in 2019, Senate Bill 1, the top priority of the New Hampshire Senate, was unfortunately vetoed by Governor Sununu, who then auctioned off a copy of his veto at a partisan political fundraiser.

In 2020, Dan sponsored legislation to combat skyrocketing prescription drug costs in New Hampshire. Dan has led the charge on a bipartisan bill to allow the importation of safe, low-cost prescription drugs from Canada. Dan is also fighting for children, families and seniors with diabetes, who all-too often ration their life-sustaining Insulin, by proposing to cap the out-of-pocket costs of Insulin at $100 per month.

As Vice-Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, recognizing the states are more important now than ever in protecting women’s health care and reproductive freedom, Dan worked to ensure that the state provided resources for women’s health centers that were losing funding because of the Trump administration’s unjust Title X Gag rule. Governor Sununu has voted against Planned Parenthood funding and supported numerous anti-choice justices. Dan has fought for Planned Parenthood every step of the way. As Governor, Dan will always protect a woman’s right to a full range of reproductive services including safe, legal abortion.

Unfortunately, under Governor Sununu, we still have one of the worst opioid public health problems in the nation, with one of the worst treatment capacities to deal with it. That has driven up health care costs on everyone. Despite good people on the ground trying their best, Governor Sununu’s so-called “Doorways” program is a failure. It is largely an intake and referral program without treatment capacity on the backend. In other words, it is Doorway to nowhere. As Vice-Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Dan also helped secure the first state investment in the Safe Station program that has helped thousands of Granite Staters, and Dan fought for provider rate increases for behavioral health care. Unfortunately, Governor Sununu has already cut those provider rates out of the budget, harming our ability to maintain or expand much needed treatment capacity. Governor Sununu also vetoed SB 5, a bipartisan bill which received a 24-0 vote in the Senate, which would have provided critical help for addiction and mental health treatment. As Governor, Dan will fight to expand treatment capacity across the continuum of care, not just talk about it. It’s long overdue, it’s the right thing to do, and it reduces costs for everyone in the end.

Economy

We need a COVID-19 relief plan that works for everyone, not just those at the top. The bailouts of the past need to be a thing of the past. The unemployment insurance system must be fixed, working people and working families need jobs, and corporate special interest handouts need to stop.

Dan grew up in a working class family. Dan’s dad worked in a furniture factory for 45 years — the same one, doing roughly the same job, in an unairconditioned furniture factory for 45 years. Dan’s mom worked various part-time jobs, including the night shift, while raising four kids. Dan knows what it’s like to stretch a dollar to make ends meet.

Right out of law school, Dan turned down jobs as a corporate attorney, instead working in legal aid for about a decade with New Hampshire Legal Assistance. Dan helped folks all around New Hampshire, oftentimes folks who never had anyone in their corner — from domestic violence survivors, to seniors, to veterans. During the last crisis, as a legal aid attorney, Dan fought to protect Granite State homeowners from foreclosure by Wall Street banks, helped get access to health care for folks who needed it, and fought for workers and families crushed by job loss to get their unemployment insurance benefits. The same people Dan saw fall through the cracks then are falling through the cracks now. It’s why Dan ran for the State Senate in the first place — our laws, our policies, our investments, don’t look out for ordinary people.

While at New Hampshire Legal Assistance Dan spent four years as the Housing Justice Project Director overseeing the staff, casework, public trainings and outreach, and advocacy for fair housing, civil rights, and workforce and affordable housing. Even before COVID-19, New Hampshire was facing a housing crisis. With vacancy rates well below 2%, some cities having 0% vacancy, and a national average of about 5% vacancy, people could not find places to live, and, if they did, prices were through the roof. It put New Hampshire at an economic and competitive disadvantage in the region, and the housing and homelessness challenges we face have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis. With a sharp increase in unemployment in the state, many folks are struggling to pay their rent and make their mortgage payments. On top of this, our homeless population frequently resides in shelters that are not built for the social distancing safety recommendations of today, making it harder for them to stay healthy and virtually impossible to find jobs. In short, housing is key to our economy and key to our recovery. You can read Dan’s full housing and homelessness plan here.

Prior to COVID-19, New Hampshire already had the highest health care costs in the nation, the third highest electric rates, unaffordable child care costs, and skyrocketing housing costs. Now, things are much worse. Tens of thousands of workers have been crushed by job loss and families are finding it harder and harder to juggle their bills, child care, work and so many other pressures working families are facing today.

In the Senate, Dan’s fought for investments in job training and apprenticeship programs, including a bill to enhance job training and trades opportunities for people in recovery and for graduating Granite State high school seniors, which Governor Sununu unfortunately vetoed. Regardless of whether you’re entering the trades or transitioning to a second or third career, you should have the opportunity to learn the skills necessary for the jobs of tomorrow. In 2016, Dan passed flexible work arrangements, SB 416, making New Hampshire just the second State to guarantee working families the right to request workplace flexibility. Dan has long championed paid family and medical leave insurance. Dan’s bill in 2019, Senate Bill 1, the top priority of the New Hampshire Senate, was unfortunately vetoed by Governor Sununu, who then auctioned off a copy of his veto at a partisan political fundraiser. Dan supports raising the minimum wage to $15 over time because the more money Granite Staters have in their pockets the more they can invest in our local economy.

We need policies and major infrastructure investments that address the challenges working families face in today’s new world and get people back to work. Dan’s led the effort to get a minimum wage, a prevailing wage, advanced affordable and workforce housing, and is the champion of paid family and medical leave insurance. Getting people to work on housing, on broadband, in healthcare and in child care, and on clean energy projects will be key to Dan’s relief and recovery agenda.

Campaign Finance Reform and Voting Rights

Elected officials work for the people — not big corporations, not special interests, not in their own self-interest or for their political party. If we cannot trust that our political process is free and fair then we will never make progress on any of the critical issues we all care about.

Over the past few years, Dan and his colleagues in the legislature have fought against efforts to suppress voting rights and allow dark money to influence our elections. Dan has sponsored legislation to close the “LLC loophole”, which allows wealthy individuals to skirt campaign finance limits by contributing personally and through LLCs they operate, and legislation to require dark money groups, like Americans for Prosperity, to disclose their contributors. Dan has also supported legislation to repeal the vote suppressing legislation Governor Sununu signed into law in 2018. In 2019, Dan also sponsored legislation that prohibited corporate contributions in our state elections.

We need to include more Granite Staters in our political process, which is why Dan supports automatic voter registration and other efforts that make our election process more accessible to all voting eligible residents. Dan supported efforts to form an independent, bipartisan redistricting commission to oversee the redistricting process. Voters should choose their politicians, politicians should not choose their voters. This common-sense legislation was unfortunately vetoed by Governor Sununu in 2019.

Marijuana

The legalization of marijuana is both an economic and racial justice issue. Dan voted in favor of the legalization of marijuana (SB 233, 2017) and supports the legalization of marijuana. This fall Dan adopted Councilor Volinsky’s marijuana legalization plan. Councilor Volinsky has led on this critical racial justice and economic issue, and Dan was happy to add his progressive marijuana legalization plan to his platform.

New Hampshire is on an island in New England as the only state without marijuana legalization, and that needs to change. The marijuana industry will create good, local jobs and provide an economic boost to rural communities in New Hampshire. The criminalization of marijuana has been a disaster, especially for communities of color who are disproportionately likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, even though white Americans use marijuana at the same rate.

The plan includes;

the legalization of up to one ounce for those 21 and over and allows for homegrown adult use;

licenses companies or cooperatives to sell marijuana at New Hampshire liquor stores;

decriminalizes possession for those under 21 and expunge records of past marijuana possession convictions;

builds a New Hampshire based marijuana industry that invests in property-poor areas specifically in Coos, Sullivan, and Cheshire Counties;

taxes marijuana as a new revenue source for education;

creates a new cannabis control board;

and funds drug and alcohol and mental health treatment with a portion of wholesale and retail revenues.

Gun Violence Prevention

The number one priority for every elected official is public safety. Keeping our families and our communities safe must include protecting friends, neighbors, and children from gun violence. On a personal level, Dan and Erin have two young daughters and when they eventually drop them off at public school — and when any parent drops their child off at school — no one should have to worry whether it will be the last time they see their kids. It’s time to finally move forward with common-sense gun safety measures.

Senator Feltes supports common-sense gun violence prevention bills, including; universal background checks, gun-free school zones, a three day waiting period, and red-flag legislation. Unfortunately, Governor Sununu has vetoed all four of those proposals.^[2]

”

—Dan Feltes' campaign website (2020)^[4]

Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for gubernatorial candidates in New Hampshire in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in New Hampshire, click here.

Filing requirements for gubernatorial candidates, 2020
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Signature formula	Filing fee	Filing fee formula	Filing deadline	Source
New Hampshire	Governor	Democratic and Republican	N/A	N/A	$100.00	Fixed number	6/12/2020	Source
New Hampshire	Governor	Unaffiliated and political organization	3,000	Fixed number	$100.00	Fixed number	9/2/2020	Source