New Hampshire's competitive governor’s race tests the power of ticket-splitters

 The last time Kelly Ayotte was on the ballot with Donald Trump, she lost. The former one-term Republican senator is giving it another go in New Hampshire this year, running in the most competitive governor’s race in the country.

But the shadow of the top of the ticket looms large, with some Republicans in the Granite State worrying how many Kamala Harris voters Ayotte can win over when Trump looks likely to lose here.

While Democrats attempt to nationalize the contest — attacking Ayotte on abortion and on Trump — Republicans are trying to localize it by zeroing in on Democratic nominee Joyce Craig’s past tenure as the mayor of Manchester, tying her to the city’s homelessness and drug problems.

“It’s not her fault, but it didn’t seem like she did anything to help,” Ray Lawrence, 73, said of Craig while finishing lunch on a recent drizzly Friday here in New Hampshire’s largest city. He likes Ayotte’s record as a senator and former state attorney general, and he’s also voting for Trump.

Around the corner on Manchester’s main drag, Claudette Laroche, 71, of Hooksett had a four-word response for why she’s backing Craig: “She’s advocating for women.”

With political opinions as hardened as they are, the neck-and-neck race to succeed retiring Republican Gov. Chris Sununu will test the endurance of ticket-splitting in a state that’s more prone to it than most but that’s also been trending bluer at the federal level. Hillary Clinton carried New Hampshire by less than half a point in 2016; Joe Biden won it by 7 points four years later.