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Final results: Summary results | Town resultsThe BasicsThe New Hampshire primary is a mainstay in American electoral politics. Every four years, voters gather to help determine the Republican and/or Democratic nominee for President. While the state only has 12 electoral votes in 2012 (normally it’s 24, but the Republican National Committee penalized the state party for moving up the event date), the primary’s position as one of the earliest contests gives the state out-sized influence over the nomination process.Only the Iowa caucuses come before New Hampshire’s primary. Traditionally, New Hampshire’s broad-based primary contest has been seen as a counter-weight to Iowa’s more drawn-out caucus process, which tends to draw a smaller core of party faithful. In the case of the 2012 Republican race, New Hampshire’s electorate is seen to represent the more libertarian-leaning, fiscally conservative wing of the party, while Iowa voters are seen as representing the socially conservative wing of the GOP base.N.H. Primary summary provided by StateImpact - NH reporter, Amanda Loder

Smith Concedes GOP Gubernatorial Nomination Race

Ryn Lessard
/
NHPR

Last night Ovide Lamontagne turned a commanding lead in the polls into the Republican nomination for governor.  His main challenger, first-time candidate Kevin Smith, conceded the race early in the evening. 

In the race against a well-known candidate like Lamontagne, Smith was something of a long shot.  And he acknowledged that he was the unknown candidate.

“We always knew that was going to be the biggest obstacle to overcome.  And I think to the best extent that we tried to do it, we did a very good job at it," Smith said.  "You know, we were up on TV for almost two months, we were up on radio for over a month, we ran a very rigorous grassroots campaign as well.”

Smith says it’s important for his supporters to back Lamontagne’s run for governor against Democrat Maggie Hassan.  And, Smith’s offered to help his primary rival on the campaign trail however Lamontagne sees fit—putting up whatever political capital he’s so recently earned. 

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