Two years ago, Republican Andy Martel surprised everyone by winning a senate seat in what was thought to be one of the most reliably Democratic districts in the state.
Now Democrats are hoping to win that district back.
They’re putting up Dave Gelinas, the same candidate who lost to Martel two years ago.
And Democrats are saying Gelinas is one of their best hopes at making a dent in the 18 to 6 GOP senate majority.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Rebecca Kaufman has more.
Dave Gelinas says his race was so close two years ago, he couldn’t resist making another run for it.
Looking back, the Manchester Democrat says he probably got outworked, but he also blames other forces at play.
Track 1 :56 it was a bad year for democrats, we didn’t field some of the best candidates we could have and I think that kept some people home and I think it energized some people to come out and vote for the republican ticket.
Democratic Senator Lou D’Allesandro is more specific.
Track 1 :58 I think the fact that the income tax was the message, was the straw that broke the camels back, the state’s not ready for that, they did not want that, and they showed that quite convincingly in that election
In 2002, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Fernald ran on an income tax platform and lost.
This year, many Democrats say stronger races at the top of the ticket are more likely to help, not hurt, lower races.
On paper, it does appear that Dave Gelinas should have no trouble winning district 18, which includes the town of Litchfield and 5 wards in Manchester.
Most wards have more registered Democrats than Republicans.
Out of some 20,000 registered voters, about 40% are democrats compared to the 33% republican.
In Litchfield, there are just around 4500 registered voters.
Nearly half are registered as undeclared. About 30% are registered republicans.
Political consultant Dave Carney is with the Committee to Elect Republican Senators.
He says what the numbers don’t take into account is Andy Martel’s performance as a senator the last two years.
4:19 he’s one of the most effective constituent service senators, when someone has a problem in that district they call and he fixes it, he’s at every community gathering and event, in Manchester as well as Litchfield
In fact, both Andy Martel and Dave Gelinas have strong ties to their district.
Both are life long residents of Manchester, both are part of the large French Canadian community, and both men’s fathers were active in the community.
Each have been state representatives, and while Martel was elected senator, Dave Gelinas was elected to the Manchester school board last year.
But on the issues, Dave Gelinas is trying to portray Andy Martel as out of touch with his district.
Track 2 :37 I’m finding in my door to door in the comment I hear so often when they ask me who’s my opponent and we tell them who the opponent is they’re unaware of the name, so I don’t think it’s an unawareness on the part of the voter because voters are pretty informed I think it shows the incumbent has not being do his job
Specifically, Gelinas accuses Martel of voting against public education by supporting vouchers and charter schools.
And unlike his opponent, Gelinas does not support a constitutional amendment to give the legislature sole authority over education policy.
For his part, Martel says he supports targeted aid.
And he points to his vote against the bill that gave Manchester 3 ½ million dollars less in school funding.
Track 4 1:07 my opponent is stirring up all kinds of dust clouds b/c he has no issue to address and attack me on so he just attacking based on the fact he’ll throw this here and there and see what sticks, its not going to work
As chairman of the health and human services committee, Andy Martel says making drugs more affordable is one of his top concerns.
He has sponsored legislation to import prescription drugs from Canada.
And he says he fully supports Governor Benson’s web site that allows seniors to buy drugs on line.
Echoing democratic gubernatorial candidate John Lynch, Dave Gelinas says the success of the website is overblown.
Track 5 1:55 but im on the campaign trail and I’ve talked to our seniors and just about every one I’ve spoken with aren’t using it, more many reasons, some don’t have computers some don’t trust computers, they think we are kicking them out the front door to land in Canada to try to save money
Both men agree that Senate Bill 110, the law intended to increase competition among insurance companies is hurting small businesses.
While Gelinas opposes it, Martel voted for the bill and says it needs more time.
Track 8 2:26 all of a sudden we were entitled to bring new competition into the state and that competition would drive the premiums down, that has not begun yet, it has a little bit but not to the extent that 110 fully stated, it will this fall, by January we should 8 or 10 new insurance companies in the state
On abortion, the two have opposing views.
Dave Gelinas supports abortion rights, Andy Martel does not.
Republican State Representative Will Infantine from Manchester says Andy Martel’s leadership could give him a real advantage, especially in Ward 9 where he lives.
But overall, Infantine predicts a close race.
And he says with so much attention being paid to the presidential and gubernatorial races, there’s a good chance many voters aren’t focusing on a state senate contest.
Track 3 1:40
There is what we call voter attrition, people vote for the top of the ticket and if they don’t know who the dog catcher is, or the local sheriff or some of these local people they don’t feel its appropriate to vote for somebody they don’t know
He says it could come down to who works the hardest in these final weeks.
But even then, Dave Gelinas and Andy Martel will have to break through all the mail, t.v. ads, and phone calls coming from the gubernatorial and presidential campaigns.
Who wins district 18, then, might just depend on John Lynch, Craig Benson, John Kerry and George Bush.
For NHPR news, I’m RK.
