A candidate who campaigns on prudence and fiscal responsibility is always going to lose to the one who promises the voters that they can get everything they want without paying for it.
Politicians have learned to give the people what they want: free sh&t.
After three terms as governor of NH, Jean Shaheen was elected to the US Senate. When she left the executive office NH had the largest budget deficit in the history of the state.
Craig Benson ran for governor and was elected as a fiscal conservative. The majority of his campaign was self funded. He was a multimillionaire who had founded Cabletron Systems. When elected he actually CUT spending in almost all state government departments. Not the proposed increases, actual reductions from the previous budget. By the end of his two year term NH had the biggest budget surplus ever. A significant change in two years.
However, all the state employees hated him. They and all the other union employees organized together in support of his Democrat opponent a relative unknown state representative(John Lynch). Lynch was elected governor and was reelected three more times. The state returned to a budget deficit.
After Lynch did 4 terms, Maggie Hassan(dem) was elected twice. Then Chris Sununu the Rino we currently have.
Now Lynch is a Professor at Dartmouth College.
Shaheen was just reelected US Senator
Hassan won a US Senate seat 5 years ago and is up for reelection in 2022.
Chris Sununu is going to run against Hassan for US Senate.
Craig Benson returned to the private sector an is now the CEO of another company.