Van Ostern Out Of 2018 Gubernatorial Race

CONCORD, NH — The Democrats’ 2016 nominee for governor has decided to sit out a rematch against the Republican who bested him two years ago, according to posts on Twitter. Colin Van Ostern of Concord has decided not to mount a challenge against Gov. Chris Sununu, R-NH, later this year. The two-term District 2 Executive Councilor, who beat four other Democrats to win the nomination, told supporters he would sit out the 2018 gubernatorial race.

Van Ostern said that while he “deeply loved” public service, spending another year campaigning full-time was “not the right choice for me or my family – especially after doing so just over a year ago.”

This does not mean, however, he will stay inactive. Like the active role he played in getting out the vote in Concord to oust a school board member who chose not to support full-day kindergarten for the city – which required voting for a 9 percent property tax increase on just the school side of the tax bill last year – as well as helping Joyce Craig become the first female mayor of Manchester, Van Ostern said he would remain active.

“I know how badly we need to get our country back on track, and I won’t be sitting on the sidelines,” he wrote on Twitter. “In addition to my work in the private sector & as a dad, I'll be working very hard in the public arena to help elect leaders in 2018 who stand up for people over politics as usual.”

In 2016, Van Ostern was the only Democrat running for a major race in the state to not be successful – with Sununu winning by about 16,500 votes.

Tough Polling Data For Dems

Van Ostern's announcement comes about 24 hours after a new University of New Hampshire poll showing Sununu with a job approval rating of 61 percent and a disapproval rating of 17 percent – making him one of the most popular governors in the United States. The poll also showed Sununu with a 10 point lead against Van Ostern in a hypothetical rematch.

In that poll, Van Ostern posted at 12 percent favorability rating, the best amongst the three Democrats listed in the poll. He also received an 8 percent unfavorable rating and a 66 percent don’t know/not sure rating. Mark Connolly, who also ran two years ago, received a 7 percent favorability rating, a 5 percent unfavorable rating, and a 72 percent don’t know/not sure rating. Steve Marchand, the former mayor of Portsmouth, who is the only declared Democrat candidate for governor, received a 5 percent favorable, 74 percent don’t know/not sure, and 3 percent unfavorable rating. Marchand was also 14 points down from Sununu in a head-to-head matchup but 30 percent of those polled were supporting another candidate or undecided.

Jilletta Jarvis, the Libertarian Party candidate who is expected to run this year, was not mentioned in the poll.

Of those polled, 67 percent said that New Hampshire was on the right track and 51 percent listed drugs as the most important problem facing the state.

Not unlike other polls, the UNH Survey Center poll oversampled registered Democrats than registered Republicans by about 3 percent – even though there are more registered Republicans in the state than Democrats – and also oversampled voters who identified more with Democrats than Republicans by 18 percent.

Caption: Gubernatorial Democratic nominee Colin Van Ostern arrives to a cheering crowd of supporters after winning his party's nomination Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016, in Manchester. Credit: AP Photo/Jim Cole