I’m looking at the final totals for Tuesday for Merrimack. Biden, Shaheen, and Pappas got more votes in this supposedly Republican town. Downticket, Republicans cleaned up with few exceptions. What the bleep is that all about?
Related: Note to Elected NH Democrats Who Have Blocked People on Facebook and Twitter
Just under 17,000 registered voters form Merrimack participated yesterday, and nothing’s final until the Secretary of State gives his blessings, but it’s a weird election.
State Senator Gary Daniels got more votes (8162) – and appears likely to take back the seat from Democrat Shannon Chandley (7532), who has warmed it for the past two years.
But Deb Pignatelli got more votes (7253) than Republican Dave Wheeler (6467) in the Executive council race, which Dave also appears poised to take back. But only because the people who voted for Danials didn’t also vote for Wheeler, but they did not vote for Pignatelli because she got less than Chandley.
That’s probably part of the lack of interest or understanding in the Executive Councilor position. We try to explain it every election. They approve the governor’s appointments (or not) but mostly spend a lot of our money. Democrats spend more of it. Seems simple enough to me.
Sununu got the most votes in my town (11,474) because Democrats liked him more than Feltes.
Shaheen collected 9229, the most for any Democrat.
With the exception of Sununu, the Dems owned the top of the ticket in Merrimack. Scroll down a little, and it’s a different story. Of the eight available House seats in 2019 and 2020, Democrats held four with Republicans having four. That’s rare in this town, but Dems felt certain they could keep or add to that.
Didn’t happen.
Except for Democrat Rosemarie Rung, Dems lost big. The Water Warriors Carriers were washed out. Republicans took seven of eight, which is more typical of years past when now and again a Democrat would sneak in, but they were typically moderate. Rung is far from it.
And she barely hung on so there’s that.
But if we had to have one, Rung is a ringer. She says some crazy stuff – great for blogging.
Further down-ticket, more Republicans get the vote of Merrimack Residents. County Sheriff, Attorney, Treasurer, Probate, and County Commissioner, all Republican winners. Only the Register of Deeds went to a Democrat in my town and not by much.
This trend is not limited to my town. Looking at the statewide results, they sort of mirror what we see here. Federal Dems and Local Republicans.
Some of that has to do with the out-of-state vote. These college kids may not be voting down-ticket in New Hampshire the way their greedy Democrat masters would like. Or, maybe, it’s the Feltes effect. He’s not pretty, and he isn’t inspiring. He’s just there.
Whatever the deal, Merrimack is not a Reliable Republican town, and I do not believe we should expect that to change. Too many folks moving to get away from blue states but then voting the same way here.
Seriously. You are not the smarter political party.
