Turnout was actually pretty good in my town yesterday, Primary Day here in NH. There was a contentious issue in this town of 7,400- the purchase of yet another fire truck, to replace an engine that seemed not to get the correct maintenance, at the cost of $500,000. This was an issue that was voted down during the regular town meeting but the Spenders in town decided not only that a used truck was “just not good enough,” but that they weren’t going to listen to the will of the people, and got a judge to authorize a Special Town Meeting to vote on the issue again – the proverbial “second bite of the apple”.
It lost by 10 votes in reaching a 60% majority – so it is dead and gone until the next regular Town Meeting. Good. It may be nice to have the best of everything but there is a cost to be borne – and some in Town have no cares about those who cannot continue to match the taxes for their spending.
At the same time, however, it showed a real soft underbelly for the upcoming November election – at least in my town; there is an enthusiasm gap between the democrats and the Republicans. Here’s a quick chart of the races and a comparison of the turnout:
| County | County | ||||||
| NH | US | Exec. | State | State | Register | Register of | |
| Guv | House | Council | Senate | House | of Deeds | Probate | |
| # Dem Candidates | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| # Repub Candidates | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Total Votes – Dem | 605 | 576 | 470 | 547 | 1,682 | 427 | 429 |
| Total Votes – Repubs | 1,145 | 1,109 | 1,065 | 1,063 | 2,618 | 953 | 933 |
| Gap – amount | 540 | 533 | 595 | 516 | 936 | 526 | 504 |
| Gap – percentage | 89.26% | 92.53% | 126.60% | 94.33% | 55.65% | 123.19% | 117.48% |
Let’s see if this is a portent of what may happen in November…and November is coming.
