Voters in three area towns demonstrated that they do not necessarily agree with the state’s majority when it comes to elections. While Republican Governor Chris Sununu easily won his party’s nomination for a third term during Tuesday’s primary election, candidates on the Democrat side had much closer races, and some towns preferred the candidate who did not win that party’s nomination.
Democrat Dan Feltes won 52 percent of the statewide vote for governor, while his opponent, Andru Volinsky, garnered only 48 percent of the vote. Ashland chose Feltes, 124-93, but in Franklin, where Volinsky held something of a hero status among some voters because of his fight for equitable educational funding for property-poor school districts such as Franklin, voters chose him over Feltes by a single vote, 303-302. (Ward 1 chose Feltes, 107-103; Ward 2 split the vote, 60-60; and Ward 3 chose Volinsky, 140-135. Bristol voters preferred Volinsky in a 142-131 vote.
If Franklin Republican Karen Testerman expected her city to support her bid to unseat Chris Sununu, she had a surprise coming when voters there chose Sununu, 777-185. The tally in Ward 1 was 290-64; Ward 2, 187-58; and Ward 3, 300-63. Ashland voters chose Sununu, 232-36, and Bristol voted 395-63 for Sununu. Overall, the incumbent tallied 90 percent to Testerman’s 9 percent of the vote.
Libertarian Darryl Perry was unopposed in his party’s nomination for governor.
In the US Senate Democrats’ race, incumbent Jeanne Shaheen took 94 percent of the vote, with Paul J. Krautmann polling 4 percent and Tom Alciere receiving 2 percent of the vote.
Ashland supported Shaheen over her opponents, 225-7-5, respectively; Bristol voted 292-18-7; and Franklin’s vote was 629-31-16.
Republicans vying for the chance to unseat incumbent Shaheen included Bryant “Corky” Messner, a Pennsylvania native who purchased a home in Wolfeboro in 2007 and received an endorsement from President Donald Trump; Don Bolduc, a Laconia native with a military career who now resides in Stratham; Andy Martin, a public interest attorney living in Manchester, and Gerard Beloin, a North Country native now living in New Boston. Messner won with 51 percent of the vote, while Bolduc was second with 42 percent. Martin garnered 5 percent and Beloin had 2 percent.
Bolduc was a local favorite, with Ashland giving him 145 votes, with 95 to Messner, 10 to Martin, and 5 to Beloin. Bristol chose Bolduc with 260 votes, with 151 going to Messner, 17 to Beloin, and 13 to Martin. Franklin gave Bolduc 464 votes; Messner, 403; Martin, 35; and Beloin, 19.
Incumbent Democrat Ann McLane Kuster retained her party’s support in New Hampshire District 2 for US Congress, garnering 93 percent of the vote, while Joseph Mirzoeff polled 7 percent. In Ashland, she won, 217-17; in Bristol, 281-30; and, in Franklin, 601-73.
Republicans in District 2 gave Steve Negron 48 percent of the vote to Lynne Ferrari Blankenbeker’s 39 percent, Matthew Bjelobrk’s 7 percent, and Eli D. Clemmer’s 6 percent. Ashland gave Negron 107 to Blankenbeker’s 98, and each of the other two candidates received 17 votes. Bristol preferred Blankenbeker, with 178 to Negron’s 161, while Clemmer and Bjelobrk received 48 and 24 votes, respectively. Franklin also preferred Blankenbeker, with 479 votes to Negron’s 301, Clemmer’s 61, and Bjelobrk’s 57.
Joseph Kenney prevailed over Kim Strathdee, 79 percent to 21 percent, for the Republican nomination to the Executive Council in District 1. Cryans was unopposed on the Democrat side. Ashland gave Kenney 186 to Strathdee’s 4; in Bristol, it was Kenney on a 304-99 vote.
Franklin’s Executive Councilor is in District 2, where James S. Beard won the Republican nomination with 53 percent of the vote to Stewart I. Levenson’s 47 percent. In Franklin, Beard had 460 votes to 350 for Levenson.
On the Democrat side, the field for District 2 Executive Council was crowded, with the nomination going to Cinde Warmington, who garnered 28 percent of the vote. Close behind her were Leah Plunkett with 25 percent and Emmett Soldati with 21 percent. Craig R. Thompson had 12 percent, Jay Surdukowski had 8 percent, and John D. Shea had 6 percent. Franklin voters gave 182 votes to Warmington; 129 to Plunkett; 121 to Thompson; 78 to Shea; 55 to Surdukowski; and 43 to Soldati.
Bob Giuda won the Republic primary for NH Senate District 2, garnering 81 percent of the vote, while David D. DeVoy II received 20 percent. Bill Bolton was unopposed in the Democrat primary. Ashland chose Giuda, 205-45, and Bristol chose him, 358-65.
There were no primary contests in Senate District 7, of which Franklin is a member, where Philip Spagnuolo Jr. was running on the Democrat side and Harold French was running in the Republican primary.
Running on the Democrat ticket as representatives for Grafton District 9, Catherine Mulholland with 48 percent and Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban with 32 percent won their party’s nomination over Richard Andrew Lobban Jr., who received 20 percent. In Ashland, the vote was 166-104-45, respectively, while Bristol’s vote was 191-145-92.
On the Republican side in Grafton District 9, Edward “Ned” Gordon with 70 percent and Lex Berezhny with 20 percent won, defeating Tejasinha Sivalingam, at 10 percent. Ashland’s vote was 211-72-42, respectively, while Bristol’s was 411-102-57.
Democrat Joshua Adjutant and Republican Kendall B. Hughes ran unopposed in Grafton District 17.
Dave Testerman with 47 percent and James Mason with 29 percent secured the Republican nomination for representative in Merrimack District 2, defeating Christopher John Gronski, who received 24 percent of the vote. Franklin’s tally was 342-238-175, respectively. Democrats Scott A. Burns and Terry Smith were unopposed.
Democrats Sheena Duncan and Joyce Fulweiler and Republicans Kenna Cross and Gregory Hill ran unopposed for the two representatives’ seats in Merrimack District 3.
In Merrimack District 26, Lorrie J. Carey defeated Matthew J. Murphy for the Democrats’ nomination, with 74 percent to 26 percent. In Franklin, the vote was 211-56. Howard Pearl was unopposed on the Republican ballot.
Other Candidates
Omer C. Ahern Jr. ran unopposed for Grafton County Commissioner.
On the Democrats’ ballot, Jeff Steigler ran unopposed for Grafton County Sheriff; Marcie Hornick was unopposed for Grafton County Attorney; Karen Liot Hill was unopposed for Grafton County Treasurer; Kelley Jean Monaham was unopposed for Grafton County Register of Deeds; and Marcia Morris was unopposed for Grafton County Commissioner.
In Merrimack County, where Sheriff Scott Hilliard had resigned in the wake of an aggravated driving while intoxicated conviction, Republican Dennis A. Crawford received 635 votes in Franklin while James S. Valiquet received 195. On the Democrats’ ballot, Franklin gave 299 votes to David A. Croft, 152 to Keith Mitchell, and 139 to Michael Labrecque. County-wide results were not available.
The only other contested race on the Democrats’ ballot was for Merrimack County Register of Probate. Franklin gave 308 votes to Erica S. Davis and 273 to Jane Bradstreet.
Democrat Robin Davis and Republican Paul Halvorsen ran unopposed for Merrimack County Attorney, so they will be facing each other in the general election.
Democrat Kathleen G. Donnelly ran unopposed for Merrimack County Treasurer.
Democrat Susan Cragin ran unopposed for Merrimack County Register of Deeds.
Democrat Mario Ratzki and Republican Stuart D. Trachy ran unopposed for Merrimack County Commissioner.
Running as delegates to the Republican State Convention were Kathleen Lauer-Rago, Karen Testerman, and Verner D. Horn. Franklin gave them 532, 591, and 480 votes, respectively.