For those who missed Kimberly’s post earlier today, Epping had a special primary election today to fill Sean Morrison’s seat in the legislature. The general election will be held on October 8.
Naomi Andrews – who nobody knows or cares about – has the backing of the New Hampshire Democrats, ActBlue, all of the Democrat sitting legislators, and all the big Dem donors. So much so, that she’s been able to open an office, for a special election, for a seat that pays $100/year (plus mileage!)
There, of course, were two republican candidates on todays primary ballot – otherwise today would have been the general election and this nonsense would have already been dispensed with. No one cares. No one wants to care. It’s off-year, and we don’t need this bologna.
Now, none of this is to shame Sean Morrison for resigning. Serving the New Hampshire legislature is a thankless, painstaking venture by all accounts, and past legislators often are referred to as “recovering.” I, personally, thank Sean for his service to the citizens of Epping and New Hampshire over the years, even though we diverge on some key issues.
The real crux of the matter is that there shouldn’t have been a primary on the republican side, at all. A current selectman announced his candidacy after the former state rep announced, causing this primary election. And, like republicans do, we f**ed it all up, with people taking sides, and people getting their feelings hurt. Yes, even in politics people get their feelings hurt.
If, like suggested by many, the newcomer held out until 2020, we’d all be better off, and we’d all be united. But now, we are here.
YAL (Young Americans for Liberty) and NHLA (New Hampshire Liberty Alliance) both endorsed the former State Rep. NHYR (New Hampshire Young Republicans) and RCYR (Rockingham County Young Republicans) as well as the Young Republican Caucus of the New Hampshire House endorsed the newcomer.
The former State Rep. won. By a lot. With no disrespect to the newcomer, this was the obvious outcome from the beginning. He’s known, he’s proven. But now, we have to heal wounds and patch up feelings so that republicans can *maybe* notch up a victory in October. Though the district is PVI R+4, meaning in any normal election the district gives Republicans a 4% handicap, we’ve essentially given that away.
Updated: Last night, I shared the original RCYR post, and my interpretation of it. The candidate they had endorsed lost the primary, though he worked hard and stayed focused on the issues. It seemed unclear at the time of posting that they would back the nominee, Hon. Michael Vose.
Today, both the NHYR and Rockingham County YR’s officially backed Michael Vose’s candidacy.
Rockingham County Young Republicans:
We are happy to support Michael Vose for State Representative to hold the Epping seat in Concord! The people of Epping deserve a fiscally conservative voice to vote for them in Concord.
It is good to see that all republicans will unite behind the nominee, and work to elect him back to the House of Representatives. Governor Sununu chimed in on twitter with congratulations and an endorsement as well:
Chris Sununu@ChrisSununuCongratulations to Michael Vose on his primary victory in Epping tonight! We need Michael back in Concord to fight against extreme legislation being pushed by the Legislature. He will fight against policies that would raise your electric bills!
Historically, Republicans do very poorly in special elections. Let’s all help get Michael Vose elected in Epping on October 8th!