Boston's Morning Newsletter

4 races to watch in the N.H. and R.I. primaries

September 13, 2022

Nik DeCosta-Klipa

Rhode Island and New Hampshire are both holding primary elections today, on the last day of voting before November across the country. (Getty Images)

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If you think our state primary elections are late on the calendar, get a load of New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Our two New England neighbors are both holding primaries today. In fact, they're the final round of primary contests before the fall general election.

Here are the big races to watch:

R.I. Governor: It looks like a toss-up race in the Democratic primary to lead Little Rhodey. There's Gov. Dan McKee, making his case for a full four-year term after being appointed to the position when former Gov. Gina Raimondo became U.S. commerce secretary. There's current Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, the first Hispanic to win statewide office in New England. And there's Helena Foulkes, a former CVS executive who has the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Boston Globe editorial board.
- Polls have shown McKee and Gorbea in the lead, but with Foulkes making a late surge. (Bernie Sanders-backed former secretary of state Matt Brown is also in the running, but trailing in the polls.) Tax policy has been a point of contention among the candidates, as well as a soccer stadium, abortion rights and flood management.

N.H. Senate: Republican Gov. Chris Sununu shocked everyone when he announced last fall he would run for reelection rather than challenge Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan. And it's been an intra-party brawl ever since to be the GOP nominee in his wake. The field includes New Hampshire Senate President Chuck Morse; former Army general Don Bolduc and several other fledgling candidates.
- Polls have shown the hard-right Bolduc with a significant lead over Morse, though many remain undecided. National Republicans are backing Morse, and Sununu himself has even jumped into the race to knock Bolduc as a conspiracy theorist. However, one prominent kingmaker — Donald Trump — has remained on the sidelines, despite reported appeals by Morse.

N.H. Congress: Republican voters will also decide whether there will be a rematch this fall in the state's famously swingy 1st district or if a new face will take on incumbent Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Matt Mowers, a former Trump administration staffer and Republican campaign veteran who lost to Pappas in 2020, started off as the race's frontrunner. But he faces a competitive primary against fellow former Trump staffer Karoline Leavitt and former WCVB reporter Gail Huff Brown, the wife of former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown.
- NHPR reports that there's deeper generational divides in the race than policy divides, though Brown does stand out as pro-choice.

R.I. Congress: Longtime 2nd District Rep. Jim Langevin is retiring this year, and polls suggest that state Treasurer Seth Magaziner is the heavy favorite to win the Democratic nomination for his seat, after he jumped out of the governor's race to run for Congress.
- In truth, the primary might not be the race to watch here. Rather, there are signs of a close general election race between Magaziner and former Cranston mayor Allan Fung, the likely Republican nominee and a rare breed of GOP centrist.

In non-election news:

One way we'll see the impacts of last year's federal infrastructure law: the expansion of Logan airport's international terminal, Terminal E. During President Joe Biden's visit to Boston yesterday, he said that $50 million in federal funding from the law has saved the project from being scaled back, even with the pandemic's effect on revenue. It's one of the largest federal grants ever for an airport, which has seen its international passengers quadruple since Terminal E opened in 1974.
- The Terminal E expansion, one of several Logan construction projects, features four new gates, modernized waiting areas and sustainability measures, including a noise barrier for East Boston.

It may not exactly be beach weather today, but state officials are urging caution after a rare shark sighting off Nahant Beach. Lifeguard services at state beaches have concluded for the season, so beachgoers should be particularly mindful; officials say that sharks tend to stick around well into the fall.

P.S.— Yes, it's still summer, but Boston Symphony Orchestra fans should start planning now for the holiday season. Tickets for the Holiday Pops concert series go on sale at 10 a.m. this morning. BSO conductor Keith Lockhart says they'll be premiering a new work celebrating Mexican Christmas traditions — along with the classics.

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