As Tuesday’s midterm results rolled in, Granite Staters solidified their red-and-blue state status, keeping Democrats as their Washington representatives and Republicans in control of the state.
On the New Hampshire side of the Upper Valley, voters cast their ballots for governor, one U.S. Senator and one U.S. Representative, a myriad of representatives for the New Hampshire House and one state senate candidate.
Landslide leads by Democrats Maggie Goodlander and Chris Pappas followed predictions from across the nation of a “blue wave” taking over Congress in response to frustrations across the nation about Republican leadership in the White House. On a more local level, dealing with affordability in the Granite State had less of a partisan implication, and incumbents largely held onto their seats regardless of their parties.
Governor
Three hours after the polls closed Tuesday, incumbent Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte and her opponent, Democrat Cinde Warmington, fought a hair’s-breadth battle for The Bridges House. Warmington led Ayotte until just before 9 p.m., when the two candidates began to trade leads every other moment.
Ayotte seemed to have nothing to worry about with Warmington until the Democrat started to close the gap in state polls in October, with the Granite State Poll from UNH reporting a statistical tie between the two candidates.
Ayotte began her re-election campaign with relatively high approval from Granite Staters. Her willingness to use her veto power against a state congress controlled by her own party, and a long track record representing New Hampshire, kept her ahead of Warmington in the polls for most of the race. Ayotte served as the state’s attorney general from 2004 to 2009 and as a U.S. Senator from 2011 to 2017.
At 10 p.m., with 55% of votes counted, Ayotte had 49.9% of votes and Warmington had 48%.
Paul and Marylou Hecht, of Lebanon, voted Democrat up and down the ballot Tuesday with one exception — Ayotte.
“She has more experience and is more in touch with New Hampshire values,” Paul said outside Lebanon City Hall Tuesday morning.
Warmington ran on the idea that Ayotte was too expensive for New Hampshire, but spent much of her campaign fighting the narrative that she had knowingly lobbied for opioid companies.
Senator
Congressman Chris Pappas earned a seat in the U.S. Senate after a heated race against former Republican Senator John Sununu defined by expensive and prolific attack ads from both sides. Pappas’s victory will make him the first openly gay man to serve in the Senate.
The Manchester native won with 60.6% of the vote. The Associated Press called the race at 8:20 with only 20% of votes counted, after Sununu conceded early.
Their race was one of seven tabbed key to determining control of the Senate; for Democrats to take control of the chamber in Washington away from Republicans, they needed to hold onto all of their incumbents and flip four new seats.
Dartmouth first-year Lottie Morgan, 18, voted for Pappas because she believes he will vote to end the war in Iran and protect the environment more than Sununu would have. Dartmouth senior Noah Amidon, 21, also cited national issues — abortion access, conflict in the Middle East, affordability — behind his decision to vote for Pappas.
In the days leading up to Tuesday’s election, Pappas led Sununu in polling, with 54% of respondents indicating they would vote for him.
Tax cap
Every ballot in New Hampshire included a question about an education funding tax cap. Each town votes on its own specific outcome; in school districts containing multiple towns, the tax cap only passes if 60% of votes across all district towns are affirmative.
At the polls, opinions on the tax cap tended toward a partisan bias, with Democrats voting “no” — don’t cap taxes — and Republicans voting “yes,” to cap them.
In Springfield, a narrow margin decided that the town will cap taxes. Fifty more people voted “yes” than the 345 who voted “no.” Not everyone who voted in Springfield answered the question at all. The people of Claremont voted similarly, casting 2,607 votes for the tax cap and 1,926 against it. In Haverhill, the tax cap passed with 66.7% of the vote.
All the Upper Valley towns that reported tax cap results by 10 p.m. Tuesday night passed the amendment.
Representative for Congress
Democrat Maggie Goodlander will continue to serve as the District 2 representative in the U.S. House of Representatives, beating her Republican opponent Lily Tang Williams with more than 60% of the vote.
Goodlander has a high approval rating and led Tang Williams in the polls throughout their race. The most recent Granite State Poll had the former naval officer with a 56% majority.
Gus Storti, 73, of Lebanon voted for Sununu and Ayotte but also Goodlander, in part because they share a veteran status.
“I think that she’s done a good job,” Storti said outside the polls Tuesday. “I think she’s been effective. She served our country, which means a lot to me.”
Executive Council
Karen Liot Hill, the only Democrat on the New Hampshire Executive Council, will also keep her District 1 seat based on results available at 10 p.m. Tuesday. Tobin Menard, who ran a low-profile campaign against his incumbent opponent, earned just about a third of the votes counted in time for publication.
At 10 p.m., Liot Hill was up 64.6% with 46% of votes counted.
New Hampshire remains the only state in the nation with an independent Executive Council, the five-person body that serves as a check on the governor.
In an October interview with the Valley News, Liot Hill highlighted affordability as her biggest priority, citing her background as “a member of the working class.” She described her first term on the council as one heavily defined by bipartisan collaboration, explaining that 95% of the council’s decisions were unanimous. But, Liot Hill said, the few times she disagreed with her colleagues in her first term were “very consequential.”
State Senator
In the District 5 race for state senator, incumbent Democrat Suzanne Prentiss, of West Lebanon, was beating out Republican challenger Conrad Schoeffter, of Plainfield, at 10 p.m. Tuesday. Prentiss had 71.6% of the 33% of reported votes, indicating a comfortable hold on her office.
N.H. House
In the race for the District 9 state house seat, Democrat Ella Barrett led Republican Bradley Macrae with 60.3% of the votes when 89% of them had been counted.
The results from other state elections in the Upper Valley will be available at vnews.com Wednesday, Nov. 4.
