New Hampshire Journal

A confident John E. Sununu (not to be confused with the many other N.H. Sununus, right Bret Baier?) joins the New Hampshire Journal podcast to talk about his newly-launched bid to return to the U.S. Senate. In a conversation at the Bridge Cafe in Manchester, N.H. Sununu shares his take on the current federal shutdown, as well as the current state of GOP politics -- a very different party than it w...

Immediately after Charlie Kirk's assassination, NHJournal issued an invitation to every elected NH Democrat to join us on the podcast and say, well, anything! Of the hundreds of election NHDems, just one took us up on the offer: Rep. Jennifer Mandelbaum. Dr. Jennifer Mandelbaum is a public health expert and dedicated public servant representing Portsmouth and Newington in the New Hampshire Ho...

Live from Castro's in Bedford, NH it's 'Cigars & Snark!' NHJournal Managing Editor Michael Graham is joined by his WTKK-FM producer 'The Great and Powerful Tom,' Tom Shattuck. They attempt to explain why the Jimmy Kimmel story isn't generating the 'Free Speech Now!' outrage from the Right that the mainstream media seem to expect. They also tell some...

On a special edition of the NHJournal podcast from Castro's in Bedford, political operative and NH native Matthew Barlett joins NHJournal managing editor Michael Graham from his regular stool at Shelly's Backroom in Washington, D.C. to discuss -- and debate -- the assassination of Charlie Kirk and what it means for American politics.  Bartlett calls the shooter a 'lone wolf.' G...

Kevin Sabet is President and CEO of the group Smart Approaches to Marijuana . He was in New Hampshire to talk to the National Association of Attorneys General about the impact of America's mass experiment with the commercial marijuana industry. His first book was called Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana, and he talks to NHJournal's Michael Graham about how New Hampshire&ap...

Want to know why the Sydney Sweeney "Good Jeans" ad upset political progressives so much? Just check the reaction to Gov. Kelly Ayotte's decision to sign bills banning sex-change procedures for minor children. PLUS -- Why GOP midterm gerrymandering in Texas means there's almost no chance you'll see it in New Hampshire. Hosted by Michael Graham, managing editor of NHJournal...

A new NHJournal/Praecones Analytica poll has dropped, and NHJ Managing Editor Michael Graham talks about it with New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP) Director Neil Levesque.  But first, it's Executive Councilor John Stephen venting his outrage at Magistrate Stephanie Johnson and her mishandling of two high-profile cases, including the horrific murder-suicide in Berlin. He says it'...

Just minutes after her budget deal passes the legislature and is headed to her desk, Gov. Kelly Ayotte joins NHJournal to talk about the process, her priorities and her very public battle with Republican legislators. Did Ayotte get everything she wanted? Does she think she went too far in her fight with the state Senate? She talks about it with NHJournal Managing Editor Michael Graham. Also, some...

Tracy Richmond, Chair of the Board for The Jewish Federation of New Hampshire, talks to NHJournal's Michael Graham about life in the Granite State as a Jewish American as antisemitic violence claims two more lives on the streets of Washington, D.C.  That violence was accompanied by the "Free, Free Palestine" chant heard at UNH and the state capitol in Concord. Then Graham launches i...

Tiffany Justice has been fighting for years to keep biology and gender in tandem, rejecting progressive arguments that sex is merely a social construct and that there are dozens of genders. Co-founder of Moms for Liberty, Justice is now a Heritage Foundation Visiting Fellow on Parental Rights. And after listening to the U.S. Supreme Court hearing on a parental rights case on Tuesday, she joins the...

Gov. Chris Sununu says he's going to sit out the 2026 U.S. Senate race -- what does that mean for New Hampshire politics?  NHJournal Managing Editor Michael Graham asks veteran political reporter Mark Halperin. He gives his take on Sununu's decision, the chances Republicans will pick up the seat, and why he thinks Rep. Maggie Goodlander could be the biggest danger to Rep. Chris Pappas&ap...

New Hampshire Democrats are as mad as hell, and they're not gonna take it anymore! Not from their members of Congress -- as Rep. Maggie Goodlander learned at a town hall this week -- or from their fellow members of the New Hampshire legislature. Just ask progressive Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D-Peterborough). All that anger is going to have an impact on the 2026 campaigns. The big question is who wi...

On this special edition of the New Hampshire Journal podcast, the news just broke that U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen will not seek a fourth term, the third swing-state Senate Democrat to decide to bail before 2026. What does that mean for New Hampshire? We ask veteran GOP strategist Jim Merrill for his insights into the Granite State's 2026 election cycle without Shaheen at the top of the ticke...

An article quoting Sam Evans-Brown of Clean Energy NH led to a tweet by host Michael Graham which led to a minor kerfuffle which resulted in a terrific conversation about New Hampshire, EVs, and the real numbers on energy in New England. Another tweet, from Democratic operative Lucas Meyer , claims New Hampshire Republicans are plotting an "income tax." (Spoiler alert: No.) Plenty of gre...

Jamie Reed describes herself as a "queer woman who's politically to the left of Bernie Sanders." For years, she worked at The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital -- until she became a whistleblower. What Reed saw violates the "first, do no harm" tenets of health care. "Instead, we are permanently harming the vulnerable patients in...

Just hours after delivering her budget address to the New Hampshire legislature, Gov. Kelly Ayotte talks to NHJournal about the details -- including her actual position on expanding Education Freedom Accounts, and her rebuttal to Democrats' claims of 'downshifting.' The new GOP governor also addresses her commitment to passing bail reform, why her budget contains actual cuts, not ju...

Trump storms back into Washington, D.C. and Granite State Republicans are pumped! While they were forced watch from ballrooms or meeting rooms, New Hampshire  who went to Washington for the inauguration were delighted by what they heard from the president. What were his best moments? What should Granite Staters take away from Trump's inaugural address? We asked NHGOP state chair Chris Ager an...

In her first podcast interview as New Hampshire's governor, Republican Kelly Ayotte talks about the budget challenges facing the Granite State, her determination to get a sanctuary city ban passed through the legislature, and why her "Don't MASS Up NH" motto continues to resonate. Plus: NHJournal Managing Editor Michael Graham reveals the secret behind the news site's rece...

Kelly Ayotte makes her first appearance on the NHJournal podcast as Gov.-elect. She talks about her vision for New Hampshire, the key message from her campaign, and her take on how her response to federal immigration enforcement is going to be very different from Massachusetts. And Drew Cline with the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy talks about a new study showing the massive cost ratepay...

Who were the biggest winners and losers on Election Day 2024 in New Hampshire? When NHJournal published its list,  the reaction was so intense we decided to invite some of the smartest observers of Granite State politics to add their own winners and losers: Greg Moore with Americans for Prosperity and Drew Cline, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy. If you want to add your ow...

Robert Cahaly of the Trafalgar Group is best known for being the pollster who spotted Donald Trump's support in 2016 and his path to a shocking victory. Eight years later, American politics is in even more turmoil and the current state of polling is a matter of great debate. Cahaly covers all of this with NHJournal's Michael Graham, and he shares his predictions for the U.S. Senate races...

Nobody was more surprised by the new NHJournal/Praecones Analytica poll showing Donald Trump with a 50.2 to 49.8 percent lead over Kamala Harris in the Granite State than NHJournal Managing Editor Michael Graham. He talks about the numbers, what they mean, and how it fits into what the Trump campaign believes is a purple-state trend, with veteran political journalist Mark Halperin. Find out more a...

After breaking news of Trump momentum in the Granite State and talk that New Hampshire may be in play, NHJournal rushed to the microphone for this emergency podcast with former New Hampshire political reporter (now relegated to the minors in Massachusetts), the Boston Globe's James Pindell. From the national scene to New Hampshire, Pindell and host Michael Graham review the latest data on the...

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu joins the NHJournal podcast the morning after the New Hampshire state primaries, to share his surprise over the outcomes of some of the races and what he believes his fellow Republicans have to do to win in November. Sununu also shares his views on Donald Trump's "less than stellar" debate performance and what he thinks it means for New Hampshire in N...

The NHJournal podcast starts with UNH political science professor Dante Scala and a look at the New Hampshire political battlefield now that Vice President Kamala Harris has given her convention speech and the race for the White House is at full speed. Then a far more profound conversation with Brian Nolen of NH4Ukraine.com , who's currently near the front lines of the fight against Russia&ap...