Massachusetts at least made one key contribution to the election this year – putting Republican Kelly Ayotte in the New Hampshire governor’s office.

Ayotte made the Bay State a punching bag in her campaign, warning voters not to turn the Granite State into liberal Massachusetts, and apparently the strategy worked.

Ayotte, a former U.S. senator, defeated Democrat and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig in one of the most bitterly contested governor’s races in the nation.

“Don’t Mass up New Hampshire” was Ayotte’s campaign slogan – warning Craig would usher in higher taxes and crime like the Bay State.

Craig conceded the race to Ayotte shortly just after 10 p.m. Tuesday as the votes mounted for the Republican. With about 60% of the vote in, Ayotte was leading Craig by a 52-46% margin.

Ayotte will replace Republican Chris Sununu as the state’s governor.

“I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Ayotte told her supporters Tuesday night. “When I announced this campaign, I said we were one election away from becoming Massachusetts. Well, guess what? Not on my watch.”

The race went negative early as Ayotte aimed her sights at Massachusetts as well as Craig’s record as mayor, claiming she turned Manchester into a dangerous drug-infested city.

Democrats countered with a single issue campaign, saying Ayotte could not be trusted to protect abortion rights. It was not enough to topple Ayotte.

Craig also brought in Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey to campaign for her in the final days. All that did was emphasize Ayotte’s point about New Hampshire becoming another Massachusetts.

If your opponent is saying don’t make New Hampshire Massachusetts, then you bring in the governor of Massachusetts, is that a smart thing to do?

“While tonight isn’t the result we wanted, I am proud of our campaign and the issues that we focused on,” Craig told her supporters.

It also wasn’t a good night for Healey, who proved to be an ineffective surrogate in the closing days. The Massachusetts governor apparently is deluded into thinking that being popular in her own state translates into popularity in the Granite State.

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Not exactly.

While Democrat Kamala Harris was leading in New Hampshire in the presidential race, many voters apparently crossed over to the Republican side to back Ayotte.

Ayotte also will have a majority Republican House and Senate to work with next year in Concord.