Previous Governors of New Hampshire
Governors who previously held office in New Hampshire, with term dates and party affiliation.
Christopher Thomas Sununu is an American politician and engineer who served as the 82nd governor of New Hampshire from 2017 to 2025.
Charles W. Morse is an American politician who served as president of the New Hampshire Senate and was acting governor of New Hampshire in 2017. Morse represented New Hampshire's 22nd State Senate district from 2010 to 2022, having previously held the same office from 2002 to 2006.
Margaret Wood Hassan is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator for New Hampshire since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Hassan was the 81st governor of New Hampshire, from 2013 to 2017.
John Hayden Lynch is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 80th governor of New Hampshire from 2005 to 2013. Lynch was first elected governor in 2004, defeating first-term Republican incumbent Craig Benson – the first time a first-term incumbent New Hampshire governor was defeated for re-election in 80 years. Lynch won re-election in landslide victories in 2006 and 2008, and comfortably won a fourth term in 2010.
Craig R. Benson is an American politician and entrepreneur who served as the 79th governor of New Hampshire from 2003 to 2005. Benson first came to public attention when he founded Cabletron Systems, later known as Enterasys Networks, which became one of the largest employers in New Hampshire.
Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen is an American politician and former educator serving since 2009 as the senior United States senator from New Hampshire. A member of the Democratic Party, she served from 1997 to 2003 as the 78th governor of New Hampshire. Shaheen is the first woman elected both governor and a U.S. senator, and was the first elected female governor of New Hampshire.
Stephen Everett Merrill was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Manchester, New Hampshire. He served as the 77th governor of New Hampshire from 1993 to 1997.
Ralph Degnan Hough is an American politician who served as acting governor of New Hampshire for roughly a week in January 1993. Though now a registered Democrat, he was a Republican during his time in state government.
Judd Alan Gregg is an American politician and attorney who served as the 76th governor of New Hampshire from 1989 to 1993 and a United States senator from New Hampshire from 1993 to 2011 where he was Chairman of the Health Committee and the Budget Committee. A member of the Republican Party, he was a businessman and attorney in Nashua before entering politics. Gregg currently serves as the Chair of the Public Advisory Board at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.
John Henry Sununu is a Cuban-born American politician who served as the 75th governor of New Hampshire from 1983 to 1989 and as the 14th White House chief of staff under President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1991.