Property taxes, school funding, the cost of living and the direction of the country were on the minds of New Hampshire voters in the Upper Valley as they went to the polls Tuesday.
The school tax cap, Question 2, split the voters we talked to.
“It’d be nice to see taxes stay where they are, but it’s also important to fund our schools appropriately,” said Nathan Malmquist, 47, a Democrat from Canaan who voted not to cap the tax.
Republican voters in Canaan and Claremont said government spending was their top concern. Others said their ballots were a message to President Donald Trump and Washington, pointing to the war in Iran, tariffs and the price of gas and groceries.
Hanover: ‘The future of our country’
At Hanover High School, Susan Holcombe, 86, said the most important issue on the ballot was “the future of our country.”
She said she voted a straight Democratic ticket, including Chris Pappas and Cinde Warmington, and voted against the tax cap.
“I think about my children and my grandchildren, and what this country is going to be like for them,” Holcombe said.
“I think that this is an important midterm election, and it sends a message that we don’t need the kinds of policies we’re getting out of Washington,” she said.
“We don’t need a war on Iran, which is an undeclared war, not approved by Congress. We don’t need a willy-nilly tariff policy.”
Jean Bandler, 93, who, like Holcombe, lives at Kendal at Hanover, said voting itself matters.
“It’s really important that Americans vote in the first place. It is a wonderful opportunity to participate in government,” Bandler said.
“I think it’s important that they vote in this election for wisdom and kindness and mercy.”
Penelope Blatman, 18, a Hanover High School senior, cast her first vote on Tuesday.
“It felt good. I got to make a difference in my community,” Blatman said.
She said she voted Democratic and against the tax cap.
“I did not want to limit funds for the school,” she said. “I want all the tax money to go to schools.”
Claremont: ‘We can’t be careless with money here’
At Disnard Elementary School, Emily Sandblade, 74, a Republican, said she voted the straight Republican ticket and supports the tax cap.
“I do believe that voters need to have a say on how they’re taxed,” Sandblade said.
“Cost of government’s a big thing because money that goes into the government comes out of people’s family budgets,” she said. “We can’t be careless with money here.”
Sandblade pointed to the Claremont School District’s finances.
“Obviously, the school district has not been careful with money,” she said. “They’ve crashed and burned financially.”
Jennifer Desilets, 68, also at Disnard, is a Republican who said she voted for almost all Democrats this year.
“I’m not in favor of our president. I’m disgusted with Republicans and allowing everything to happen that they’re allowing to happen, and so I’m changing,” Desilets said.
She named “the war in Iran, the cost of gas, the cost of groceries.”
She added, “I don’t believe our government anymore. I don’t trust them. I’ve never felt that before, and I feel it now.”
Desilets said she voted no on the tax cap.
“My property taxes are outrageous, and I’d like some relief. So I’m not getting that from Kelly Ayotte,” she said.
“I’m not in favor of a tax cap at all. I’m not thrilled with our school board either, but I’m not going to do a tax cap and have that further strangle our schools.”
At Claremont Middle School, Michael Oke, 37, an independent, said he voted yes on the tax cap, though he mostly voted for Democrats.
“I think we already pay too much in taxes for our school district to run out of money, for them to be asking of more money on our taxes,” Oke said.
He said he wants more public money spent at home.
“We should spend more of our resources with helping Americans,” he said.
Lebanon: ‘A huge tax burden’
At Lebanon City Hall on Tuesday, Gus Storti, 73, an independent and Vietnam War Navy veteran, split his ticket.
He said he voted for Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte, Republican John Sununu for Senate and Democratic U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander.
The economy and national defense were his top issues, he said.
Storti said Sununu has “more depth, more experience.”
Of Goodlander, he said, “I think she’s been effective. She served our country, which means a lot to me.”
Storti said he voted yes on the school tax cap, Question 2.
“We’re already under a huge tax burden in Lebanon for the next four years, so I don’t want to see that increased any more than what it already is,” he said.
Rachael Bergeron, 89, a Republican, said property taxes were her top issue, and that she voted for Ayotte and the rest of the Republican ticket.
“I think elderly should have a tax break on their property taxes,” Bergeron said. “They are very expensive.”
She said she did not vote on the tax cap question.
Robert Greene, 70, a health care consultant who has lived in Lebanon for seven years, said he voted Democratic up and down the ballot.
“I’m hoping to see a blue wave and get change going in Washington and locally,” Greene said.
“I’m concerned about the Liberty Alliance and their power in Concord, and so I’m hoping that we can put a check on that as well.”
Greene voted no on the tax cap.
“It’s just another attempt to decrease public funding and control,” he said.
Plainfield: ‘Personality than party’
At Plainfield Elementary School, Mark Fisk said he’s registered as a Republican, but voted mostly Democratic Tuesday morning. Ayotte, who Fisk described as a “good family person,” got his vote, but Sununu didn’t.
Fisk said he votes more based on “personality than party.”
Timothy Buzzell, 79, said he familiarized himself with the candidates by listening to an “awful lot” of campaign ads. Buzzell has kept up with Sununu over the years.
“I appreciate what he’s done for the state,” Buzzell said outside the polls.
Liana Lansigan, 22, is on a career path to become a public educator, she said, which is why she opposed Question 2 calling for a school district tax cap.
Lansigan, an independent who tends to lean left, said she can’t fully get behind Pappas, but still voted for him as a means of harm reduction, rather than full support.
Enfield: ‘A more humane world’
At the Enfield Community Center, Deborah Mashibini-Prior, 67, who said she thinks she’s registered as an independent, voted a straight Democratic ticket.
“I’m voting against anybody that supports the Trump administration,” she said.
“Human beings need to come first, not the profits of the few over the interests of the many,” Mashibini-Prior said. “I want to vote for a more humane world.”
She said she voted no on the tax cap.
“It is sad how much everything costs these days. But on the other hand, we need to invest fully in the youth,” she said.
Douglas Plumley, 39, said he is registered as a Democrat but would normally be an independent, and that he voted against the Republicans.
“I’m basically against pretty much everything about this Congress and administration, except for maybe gun rights,” Plumley said. “I’m not a single issue voter.”
In local candidates, he said, he was looking for “people that can be respectful even if they disagree.”
He said he voted no on the tax cap.
“The tax cap seemed like an inappropriate way of doing it,” he said.
Marta Ceroni, 57, a Democrat, said she voted for Democrats all the way down the ballot.
“This vote is also against something, and so the against part is energizing to me,” Ceroni said.
Though she didn’t specify how she voted on the tax cap, she said, “This is not the time to cut on the most important segment of our society.”
Canaan: ‘The excessive spending and the taxation’
At the Canaan fire station, Scott Borthwick, 64, a Republican who has lived in town for 40 years, said he came out for “getting the right people in office and capping the property tax.”
He said the town’s biggest issues are “the excessive spending and the taxation.”
“It’s concerning when the values keep going up and the taxes keep going up,” Borthwick said. “I’m hoping to retire here. I don’t know that I’m going to be able to do that.”
He said he supported John Sununu, whom he knows personally.
“I would never vote for a Democrat, anyway,” Borthwick said.
Jerry Brightman, 81, said he considers himself an independent but votes Democratic most of the time.
Brightman, who has lived in Canaan for 24 years, said voting is the thing he can do about what is happening in Washington.
“I can’t tell him not to sell crypto to people and line his own pockets, but I can vote, and that’s what I did,” Brightman said.
He said he was tempted to vote yes on the tax cap but voted no.
“My wife is an educator, and she didn’t tell me how to vote. So I said, ‘I’m going to vote no because she feels there’s not enough money in the school,'” Brightman said.
“I don’t know how good the schools are at allocating the money. Maybe they need a better accountant.”
Suzanne Mosaliganti, 43, a Democrat, said her concerns were big-picture.
“My main concern right now is just having guardrails for our government,” Mosaliganti said.
She said voting for Chris Pappas and Maggie Goodlander “and getting Kelly Ayotte out was really important to me.”
