The state’s political establishment has thrown its weight behind Molly Kelly, a former state senator. Where her opponent, Steve Marchand, can come across as glib, Kelly is cautious and conservative. But 16 current and former state senators have declared their support for her, and analysts see her as the front-runner, especially in a year when female candidates are doing so well.

Marchand, a sometimes wonky politician who has painted himself as a progressive, is pointedly running to Kelly’s left. A former mayor of Portsmouth, Marchand has drawn criticism for his previous involvement in “No Labels,” a bipartisan group that has been derided on the left for naming Donald Trump a “problem solver” in early 2016. Marchand is making his second straight bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Regardless who wins, it will be interesting to see how much help the nominee receives from the party leading up to the general election, given the expectation that Sununu will prevail. Any party leader who lends their support in this first-in-the-nation primary state will inevitably stoke speculation about a 2020 presidential run.

A Crowded Field in a Swing District

The race to watch in New Hampshire is in the 1st District, where 11 Democrats, including the son of Sen. Bernie Sanders, and a handful of Republicans are vying for an open congressional seat in a perennial battleground. Though currently held by a Democrat, Carol Shea-Porter, who is retiring, the district narrowly went for Trump in 2016. Republicans see it as a potential pickup.

On the Democratic side, the front-runners are Maura Sullivan, an ex-Marine and former official in the Obama administration with national support (she has raised more than $1.8 million, largely from outside the state), and Chris Pappas, a New Hampshire Executive Council member who has been endorsed by top local Democrats, including Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Sullivan, who was considered a possible candidate in the Illinois 6th District until she moved to New Hampshire last year, has been accused of carpetbagging, a particularly negative charge in this historically insular state. Pappas has faced criticisms that he is too entrenched in the state’s establishment.

Other Democratic candidates include a retired trial lawyer, an environmental scientist, the former chief of staff to the district’s current congresswoman and a labor leader. And of course, there is Levi Sanders, the son of the Vermont senator this neighboring state knows well. He is not expected to win the race. But the fact that there are so many candidates in the primary could open to the door for another dark-horse candidate like state Rep. Mindi Messmer, the environmental scientist, or Mark MacKenzie, the labor leader who served as a delegate for the elder Sanders at the Democratic National Convention.

There are two main Republican candidates competing for their party’s nomination: Andy Sanborn, a state senator, and Eddie Edwards, a Navy veteran and former police chief who was recently endorsed by Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer. At this point, the race may come down to which man has successfully convinced voters he is Trumpier.

The Other Race to Watch

The primary election in the state’s other congressional district is far sleepier, with the Democratic incumbent, Ann Kuster, widely expected to emerge victorious in November. The Republican candidates include state Rep. Steve Negron, who has been endorsed by the New Hampshire Union Leader, and Stewart Levenson, a former regional director for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Hillary Clinton won this district in 2016 by 2 points.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Sydney Ember © 2018 The New York Times