Sep 12
New Hampshire State Primary - Low Voter Turnout, As Expected
Not surprisingly, voter turnout for the New Hampshire state primaries was quite low. With few real contests in the offing, voters stayed away in droves.
Another reason the voter turnout was weak was because a majority of registered voters in the state are declared as independents, affiliated with none of the political parties in the state. It is one of the many ways that New Hampshire shows its contrarian nature, with citizens voting for the candidate and not along party lines, more often than not.
While turnout was low for this mid-term primary, the story will be quite different come November and the national elections.
Updates will be appended as results become available.
UPDATE 9:39PM EDT: Incumbent 2nd Congressional District Representative Charlie Bass® has won over his challenger, Berlin Mayor Bob Danderson. Bass will be facing Democrat Paul Hodes in a rematch of their 2004 contest.
UPDATE 10:08PM EDT: In an upset, Carol Shea-Porter has defeated fellow Democrat Jim Craig in her bid to run against incumbent 1st Congressional District Representative Jeb Bradley®.
The question yet to be answered is whether President Bush’s popularity, or lack thereof, will have any effect on the elections in New Hampshire come November. If past elections are any indicator, I’d have to say ‘No’. Again, it may be the contrarian New Hampshire yankee character that will be more of a deciding factor in November than party affiliations.
Both incumbent Republicans support the efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, while both of the Democratic challengers have voiced their objections to the war and have expressed opinions that favor a quick pullout from Iraq. It may be that Iraq may be the deciding factor in the upcoming November elections.
