This morning we shared the good news about Republican Gary Daniels. His victory last Tuesday survived a recount requested by Democrat Shannon Chandley in the District 11 race. Now we have just learned that Republican Denise Ricciardi’s win last Tuesday will stand as well. The Democrat canceled the Recount.
Related: Shannon Chandley’s State Senate Recount Comes up Empty
Jeanne Dietsch had requested a recount, and it made sense. She lost by 409 votes. You’d be crazy not to ask for one. Well, maybe crazy. That’s a good bit to cover. But it hardly matters, the inside scoop has it that after counting Bedford and Peterborough, Denise added votes to her total, and Dietsch did not so Jeanne pulled the plug.
No point in losing again by more votes than you originally lost. That would be embarrassing. And a waste of everyone’s beautiful afternoon. An afternoon Jeanne may have been enjoying because I also heard she never even showed up for her own recount.
She phoned it in is my best guess. Only the candidate, I am told, can stop a recount after they’ve requested it. And unless she had a family emergency or some other situation that might keep you from attending the recount you asked for (and let’s hope it was not a medical emergency), it’s bad form not to show for your own soiree.
Whatever the deal, congrats to Denise Ricciardi. She has always been a tenacious fighter, and as I said this morning, the NH State Senate needs some of that.
As for New Hampshire State Senate race recounts, there is one more challenge by Democrat Melanie Levesque. She lost her seat to Kevin Avard, from who she took it in 2018.
Levesque, like Dietsch and Chandley, were all first-term State Senators. Daniels and Avard have served multiple terms while this will be Ricciardi’s first dance in the State Senate.
As for the Levesque challenge, I like Kevin’s chances.
The original version of this post reported the difference in votes between Ricciardi and Dietsch as 127 votes. My Sec. O-State data was incorrect and must have been updated. The correct number was 409 votes. The post has been updated.
Chris Maidment contributed to this report