Granite State Voters Set To Chisel Down Primary Field for US Senate

New Hampshire voters will chisel down the field of 11 Republican primary candidates on Sept. 13 in one of the country’s most consequential U.S. Senate races.

The race’s outcome could affect the balance of power in the Senate, either handing it back to Republicans, or solidifying Democrat control.

The top finisher in New Hampshire’s GOP primary will advance to face the winner of the state’s Democratic primary. That race pits first-term incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan against two challengers from her party.

Hassan, a former governor of New Hampshire, is expected to move forward. And she holds a slight edge in the fall, say political forecasters who weigh in on races around the country. But pundits often use the term “vulnerable” when describing Hassan’s hold on her Senate seat.

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) speaks at a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs/Rules and Administration Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 3, 2021. (Shawn Thew/Pool via Getty Images)

Officially, the race is considered competitive, forecasters agree. That’s why everyone is watching.

The U.S. Senate currently is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with Vice President Kamala Harris (D) casting any tie-breaking votes.

Until recently, the country’s leading prognosticators had been predicting Republicans would pick up 1-3 seats in the Senate, retaking control. Now, they say, one party is likely to have a net gain of one seat, but it’s not clear which is favored.

Former president Donald Trump has stayed oddly quiet on his pick in the New Hampshire Republican primary field. Meanwhile, money for advertising has poured in from political action committees (PACs) controlled by Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats in the hopes of influencing the race.

Sparking the most spending is nursery owner Chuck Morse, a Republican who’s served for eight years as the state’s senate president, a