Concord
Polls continue to show the November race in a dead heat and roughly $100 million in outside spending is expected to pour into the state.
With 82 percent of precincts reporting, Ayotte had 79 percent support to just 17 percent for Rubens, a former state senator from Etna.
Ayotte has angered some more conservative members of the Republican base over several of her more moderate positions, such as her support for the Clean Power Plan. But Rubens, who also ran unsuccessfully for the nomination in 2014, failed to capture a large following.
Ayotte did well in the Upper Valley, winning 178 votes in Enfield to just 76 for Rubens, and defeating him, 414-111, in Lebanon.
She also thumped Rubens, who unabashedly supported Donald Trump, in his hometown of Hanover, 195-54.
The gridlock in Washington and the presidential campaign involving Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump figured in the minds of some Upper Valley voters.
Enfield independent Simin Batchelder normally votes in Republican primaries but on Tuesday opted to take a Democratic ballot, though she declined to say who she voted for.
“Overall, I think Republicans right now showed us that they are not helping any issues in the country,” she said. “I used to vote for them and I’m not doing that anymore.”
Batchelder said she didn’t feel Republicans were looking out for average Americans.
“They’re not supporting the students, they’re not supporting the schools, they’re not supporting the women, they’re not supporting the people who don’t have enough money.”
“Instead (the Republicans) go with the pharmaceuticals, the people who already have money, like Mr. Trump, who has so much money,” she said.
At the Lebanon polls, longtime Republican activist Karen Cervantes said she felt good voting for Ayotte.
“I think she does have New Hampshire’s best interest (at heart) and I am not one of these voters that liked every one of the ballots that she has passed. I am not one who feels that she has done some things that I don’t particularly care for, especially being married to a legal Mexican citizen. But overall, I am not a one- or two-issue voter,” said Cervantes, who was disappointed Rubens, a fellow Grafton County Republican, prompted a primary.
“I don’t believe that Rubens should have challenged an incumbent, so I am not happy with him,” she said.
At the same time, Cervantes also said she is concerned that Trump’s candidacy is imperiling Republican control of Congress and has definitely influenced the local races.
“I am absolutely terrified we are going to lose the Senate. We’ll still have the House but I am really afraid that the numbers are going to drop. I think he’s hurting the ticket top down,” she said.
Valley News staff writer Tim Camerato contributed to this report.