Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) is projected to win the New Hampshire gubernatorial race, keeping the office in Republican hands, according to Decision Desk HQ. Ayotte was generally seen as the front-runner throughout the general election campaign to replace popular retiring Gov.

Ms. Ayotte entered the race with greater name recognition than the Democrat, Joyce Craig, and was seen as a natural successor to Gov. Chris Sununu, a moderate Republican.

Kelly Ayotte made the Bay State a punching bag in her campaign, warning voters not to turn the Granite State into liberal Massachusetts, and apparently the strategy worked.