new hampshire gov. maggie hassan won her state<u+2019>s u.s. senate seat, defeating republican incumbent kelly ayotte in one of the most expensive races this year. ms. hassan had 48.0% of the vote, compared with 47.9% for ms. ayotte<u+2014>a difference of just 716 votes with all precincts reporting<u+2014>when ms. ayotte conceded wednesday. <u+201c>it has been a tremendous privilege to serve new hampshire in the senate,<u+201d> ms. ayotte said in a statement. <u+201c>this is a critical time for new hampshire and our country, and now more than ever, we need to work together to address our challenges.<u+201d> ms. hassan, a well-liked governor, presented a potent threat to the popular republican senator from the beginning of her campaign. an early ad depicting her upbeat family getting her son, who has cerebral palsy, off to school showed a warm personal side. ms. hassan, 58 years old, also touted her pragmatism, emphasizing themes like cutting wasteful spending, which made her sound almost like a republican. breaking with her party, ms. hassan was the only democratic governor to call for a temporary ban on syrian refugees. the two candidates spent much effort trying to tie their opponents to their party<u+2019>s presidential candidates. ms ayotte stumbled when she said she considered gop nominee donald trump a role model for children, a statement she later rescinded. ms. hassan got into trouble when she declined to say whether she thought her party<u+2019>s candidate, hillary clinton, was honest and trustworthy, eventually saying she did believe that the nominee could be trusted. ms. ayotte, 48, campaigned as an independent-minded republican who would break with her party to help her state, such as when she stuck up for curbs on power-plant emissions. at one point in the campaign she said she couldn<u+2019>t vote for mr. trump<u+2014>a risky move because of the potential for alienating his supporters in a race with little margin for error. mr. trump<u+2019>s supporters were furious but ultimately returned to the gop fold. both parties funneled money into the contest. by the friday before the election, outside groups and the campaigns had spent a combined $120 million in the tiny state, or roughly $131 for each of the 919,126 registered voters. write to siobhan hughes at siobhan.hughes@wsj.com
maggie hassan wins new hampshire senate race - wsj
siobhan hughes