A battleground state surrounded by liberal strongholds could be a major fight for Democrats in 2024

CONCORD, New Hampshire – New Hampshire is currently embroiled in a thorny dispute with the Democratic National Committee over the date of its famous presidential primary.

And White House candidates from both major political parties are continually crisscrossing the state as the 2024 presidential primary approaches.

New Hampshire has long been known in the political world for its prominent position on the road to the White House, but its status as a crucial general election battleground and the only swing state in nuanced New England blue is just as important.

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With just over a year until the 2024 elections, the state will once again see contests for president, Congress and governor.

To top it all off, what makes New Hampshire even more interesting is that Democrats appear to control federal elections in the state, while Republicans enjoy complete control over the state’s executive offices and legislative branch .

“We are organizing to win majorities in the House of Representatives and flip the governor’s seat, in addition to re-electing Chris Pappas and Annie Kuster to Congress and winning the White House in 2024,” said the chairman of the New Democratic Party. Hampshire, Ray Buckley, in a statement.

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New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Chris Ager is also aiming for victories in 2024, telling Fox News that “we need to have a voice in Washington that will represent more than just the left-wing Democrats in the state.” Republican representative in Congress.

“New Hampshire is a great place to live because we have a Republican House, Senate and governor. And we want to keep it that way,” Ager said.

Democrats have won New Hampshire in every presidential election for three decades except 2000, when then-Texas Governor George W. Bush narrowly beat then-Vice President, Al Gore, for the state’s four electoral votes, helping Bush win the White House.

But the margins of victory have all been less than 10%.

Democrats have also won four consecutive Senate elections since 2014, and 11 of the last 12 House elections over the past decade.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire speaks at the Salem GOP Labor Day Picnic in Salem, New Hampshire, September 4, 2023. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

But it’s a different story in state elections, where popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu won four consecutive two-year terms as governor and Republicans gained majorities in both houses of the state legislature. State in four of the last five elections. They also currently control the five-member Executive Council (which acts as an elected cabinet, approving appointments and major state contracts) by a 4-to-1 margin.

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When asked why Democrats seem to dominate federal elections while Republicans have the upper hand in state-level elections, Wayne Lesperance, a veteran New Hampshire-based political scientist and president of New England College, told Fox News : “Granite Staters are very pragmatic voters. evaluate individuals and not so much parties.

Lesperance also noted that while there is “a long history of Yankee Republicans – fiscally conservative and socially moderate,” the state was “affected by the arrival of people from Massachusetts to New Hampshire,” which changed the demographics of the electorate.

Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan greets supporters after voting on Election Day in her hometown of Newfields, New Hampshire, November 8, 2022. (Fox News)

Purple New Hampshire is surrounded by the blue-leaning states of Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont – and is the only competitive battleground in New England and the New York/New Jersey region. Pennsylvania, at the southern end of the Northeast, is the only other swing state in the region.

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“New Hampshire is very different from its neighboring states, and it has been that way for a long time,” Neil Lévesque told Fox News.

The longtime executive director of the New Hampshire Political Institute at Saint Anselm College noted that the “Live Free or Die” state has no income tax or sales tax.

“Just because we’re close to Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine, we couldn’t be further away when it comes to ideology,” he noted.

Looking ahead to next year’s elections, both major political parties are expected to devote a lot of resources in New Hampshire to both House races and what could end up being one of the most competitive gubernatorial matchups in the country, Sununu deciding not to seek re-election. .

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And in the race for the White House, New Hampshire could once again play a crucial role.

As Lévesque pointed out, “if Al Gore had won our four electoral votes, he would have been president of the United States.”

Get the latest 2024 election campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on our Fox News Digital election hub.