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Bahariasaurus t1_ivo6thi wrote

Disclaimer: I am a Masshole who hangs out in NH a lot.

NH was always more of a Libertarian Republican/maybe Mitt Romney style neo-con Republican. Generally, people gravitated towards low taxes and personal freedom. Most of the candidates the DNC fields are closer to Mitt Romney than the people the GOP puts forward these days. TLDR: The GOP has shifted right, which means NH looks more purple.

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WinsingtonIII t1_ivomikt wrote

Should also probably be mentioned that NH is one of the most educated states in the country by percentage of adults with a college degree (8th highest in the nation).

Trump performs poorly with white voters with college degrees relative to other Republican candidates historically (even compared to his own performance among college-educated white voters in 2016 he lost support in 2020), and it seems like GOP candidates who associate themselves closely with Trump also perform poorly with them: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-election-swing-state-biden-trump-coalition/?leadSource=uverify%20wall

Which is a bad combination for a pro-Trump Republican candidate in NH since there are a lot of white college-educated voters in NH. A more moderate Republican like Sununu doesn't suffer from the same issue and can win in NH fairly easily.

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ShortUSA t1_ivp0sau wrote

Exactly! NH is largely fiscally conservative and socially liberal. In other words, keep government lean and get out of peoples personal lives. Republicans generally always win with this position, but as of late far too many Republicans have been nosing into people's lives: gay people, womens reproduction, marijuana users, etc. Avoid that shit (and don't demonstrate you're insane - a recent Repub problem) and Rs will never lose in NH. They just can't help themselves.

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