In some ways, Tuesday’s election was unremarkable. Turnout was slow but steady, which isn’t unusual for a September state primary. There weren’t any major voting disruptions. Several top races — the Republican gubernatorial primary and the Democratic race for the 2nd Congressional District — were decided without delay, shortly after the polls closed.
“Today has been one of the smoothest elections I’ve ever experienced,” Secretary of State Dave Scanlan proclaimed during a stop in Londonderry mid-afternoon. “I’m looking for some wood to knock on, because it is almost too good to be true.”
But in other ways, this year’s primary campaign has been noteworthy. There were competitive races in multiple seats heading into the election. And primaries across the board have been marked by fierce infighting that doesn’t usually play out in public between establishment candidates, particularly in the Democratic races for governor and the state’s 2nd Congressional District.
“I’ve been in New Hampshire for almost 30 years now and I just don’t remember it ever being that mean,” observed Henniker resident David MacLean. “Even on the Democratic side, it seems like it’s lost a lot of its civility.”
(Catch up on the latest election results here.)
Kirke Olson stood outside in the breeze after casting his ballot in Henniker, sporting an “I Voted” sticker. An undeclared voter who said he pulled a Democratic ballot, Olson said he was looking for politicians to help decrease animosity. But he didn’t see much difference between some of the candidates.
“I had to flip a coin,” he joked.
In Londonderry, Gene Rogers said he too was frustrated with the level of negative campaigning he’s seen in recent weeks.
“I try to filter out as much as I can,” said Rogers.
Nearby in Derry, Alec Leon said he’s lost friends because of politics.
“As things start to get crazier and crazier, you know, the fringes start to be not so fringe anymore,” he said. “And a lot in some ways, they're mainstream.”
Fellow Derry voter Beth Allen agreed. She said it can be hard to state your beliefs without being labeled: “You must be this if you believe in this,” she said. Her advice? Take a lesson from Kindergarten.
“Live by the golden rule,” Allen said. “If it would hurt your feelings or make you sad, then don't say it.”
In Concord, Clement Kigugu spent his day traveling to local polling places, making sure that refugees who are eligible to vote can get to the polls. He runs the Concord-based organization Overcomers Refugee Services, which had a team on call Tuesday to give people rides to the polls, help them with language barriers, and answer questions about where to go or what documents to bring.
Kigugu said too many people have misplaced fears about immigrants and refugees in the current political climate. More than 4,500 refugees have settled in New Hampshire since 2010, according to state data, around a third of them in Concord.
We're here for the safety of our children and ourselves,” said Kigugu, who is originally from Rwanda and came to the U.S. as an asylum seeker. “So when we're here, we really focus on our children ourselves and work for this country and contribute like everybody else.”
Some common ground
Despite the caustic tone in many political discussions lately, some down ballot candidates were able to find common ground. At the Pittsfield polling place, Jim Allard and Sally Kelly made their last-minute pitches to voters as a team; they’re running to represent Pittsfield and neighboring Chichester at the State House. Allard is a former Republican who’s now running as an independent, while Kelly is a Democrat. They said they met during a candidate forum two years ago and realized that when one of them spoke, the other one would nod their head.
“Do we agree on everything? No,” Kelly said. “But I don’t know a constituent that agrees with an elected official on 100% of the issues.”
She said she thinks voters will benefit from this approach “because it says we don’t care about the party, we care about the individuals more.”
Nearby in Epsom, the atmosphere among many canvassers was also collegial. Many of them have sat side-by-side for a slew of elections.
Steve Warner, a Democrat, was holding signs for candidates like Cinde Warmington and Colin van Ostern next to Republican State Rep. Dan McGuire. They chit-chatted during a lull in voters.
“Dan’s a neighbor of mine,” Warner said.
“This is Primary Day, we’re not even opponents today,” McGuire added.
Poll worker Bob McKechnie gets dressed up for the occasion. He was wearing a special polo shirt covered in an American flag and the Declaration of Independence. He says his festive shirts put smiles on the faces of voters.
“Wait ‘til you see my one for the presidential election,” he said.
‘A dress rehearsal for November’
While many voters were hungry for civility, they also articulated a desire for more action to improve the economy — and specifically to address New Hampshire’s acute shortage of affordable housing.
“Rents are high for those who rent,” said Felicia Gennetti, a health care worker in Bow who voted in the Republican primary. “If you didn't buy a house four years ago, then you probably can't buy one now.”
Jessica Osterhoudt, who voted in the Democratic primary, shared similar concerns. She said lots of her friends are struggling to find an affordable place to live.
Some are “having their apartments sold out from under them and then having to find somewhere new, and then having to move out of state because there's nowhere to go,” said Osterhoudt, who works as an attorney. “People I know who want to move into the state can't because there's nowhere to live that's affordable.”
Over in Hillsborough, Heidi Welch said education and war were the two issues she was most concerned about, along with crime and immigration. A former New Hampshire Teacher of the Year who now works as a professor, she described herself as a moderate who leans socially liberal and fiscally conservative.
“I’m very passionate about how we bring education to kids and expanding opportunities for those students and supporting teachers so that they're not going out of pocket to just put things on their walls and give students experiences,” she said.
Roger Boisvert, another Hillsborough voter, said he’s excited for younger generations to bring more perspectives into politics — and perhaps fracture the two-party system.
“I’m not one that will usually vote a straight ticket,” he said. “I vote for who’s the best person for the job.”
No matter who’s on the ballot, Boisvert said, he always makes sure to participate.
“There’s a lot of people that died so I could vote,” he said.
Even before the results were final on Tuesday, many voters and election officials had their eyes on the general election — with a presidential debate on deck Tuesday night, and high stakes contests looming over open seats for governor, Congress, and more.
The way Loudon Town Moderator Rodney Phillips saw it, Tuesday was “a dress rehearsal for November.”
But that wasn’t just because of the political dynamics: Loudon is one of a handful of New Hampshire towns rolling out updated voting technology this year. In Loudon, this included poll pads, devices which check-in voters by scanning their IDs. Phillips said this is a much faster alternative than traditional paper check-in lists, estimating that the pads cut the time a voter spends in a polling station in half.
“A lot's changing for us,” Phillips said, “but it's actually making our life much easier.”
