Republicans won the governor races in Vermont and New Hampshire in Tuesday’s midterm elections, holding both New England governorships even as Democrats swept to control of Congress nationwide.
The Associated Press called both races in the early hours of Wednesday: Vermont at 12:35 a.m. ET and New Hampshire at 12:42 a.m. ET, according to AP call listings. The results are projections based on counted votes, not final certified results, which states confirm in the weeks after the election.
Phil Scott wins a sixth term in Vermont
Vermont Republican Governor Phil Scott was re-elected to a sixth two-year term, defeating Democratic challenger Amanda Janoo, WAMC reported. Janoo conceded at about 10:45 p.m. on Tuesday, with 85% of towns reporting, congratulating Scott at a watch party in Burlington.
The win came against the polling trend: a final University of New Hampshire survey had put Scott behind, and Scott himself noted the swing, saying it looked like he would win by over five points after the poll had him losing by about nine. With 223 of 247 towns reporting, Scott led Janoo by roughly 147,500 votes to 126,750, according to the Burlington Free Press live results recap — an unofficial tally at that stage of the count.
Scott’s victory came even as Republicans lost seats in the Vermont legislature, giving Democrats a supermajority there, WAMC reported. Democrat Molly Gray won the race for lieutenant governor, leaving Vermont’s executive chamber split.
Kelly Ayotte re-elected in New Hampshire
In New Hampshire, Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte won a second two-year term, defeating Democrat Cinde Warmington, the Associated Press reported. Ayotte led 51% to 47% with 85% of the vote counted at the time of the AP report carried by the Daily Caller.
Ayotte and Scott were the only two Republican governors on the ballot this year in states carried by former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, according to MultiState figures cited in the Daily Caller report. Vermont and New Hampshire are also the only states that elect their governor every two years, rather than every four.
Why these two wins stand out
The two holds run against the night’s national pattern. Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, flipped several governorships elsewhere, and won other Republican-held governor races such as Tennessee, where Marsha Blackburn became the state’s first woman governor. Vermont and New Hampshire show that the Democratic wave did not reach every statehouse: two popular Republican incumbents in Democratic-leaning New England states survived it.
For President Donald Trump, the results are mixed consolation alongside Republican wins in Florida: his party lost Congress but held two governorships in states his Democratic opponents carried nationally two years ago. Whether Scott and Ayotte can work with Democratic legislatures — and, in Vermont’s case, a Democratic supermajority — will shape what their new terms can actually deliver.
What happens next
Both governors will serve new two-year terms, meaning they face voters again in 2028. Final certified vote totals, and the full composition of both state legislatures, will follow as counting and certification conclude.
Sources
- Associated Press election results, Governor races, election date 3 Nov 2026 (Vermont and New Hampshire both Called) — https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/?ap_doc=ap%2Fcg1%2F20261103%2Fl
- WAMC, “Vermont Governor Scott reelected to serve sixth term”, 4 Nov 2026 — https://www.wamc.org/news/2026-11-04/election-2026-vermont-phil-scott-wins-reelection-governor
- Daily Caller (AP figures), “Kelly Ayotte Wins Second Term”, 4 Nov 2026 — https://dailycaller.com/2026/11/04/new-hampshire-governor-race-kelly-ayotte-cinde-warmington
- Burlington Free Press, Vermont election results recap, 3-4 Nov 2026 — https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/11/03/live-vermont-election-results-polling-place-scenes-governor-race–live/92586501007/
Results are AP projections, not certified totals.
