Recount requested in Belknap House District 6: DiMartino lost to Beaudoin by just 17 votes

Lisa DiMartino, a Democratic state representative candidate in Belknap District 6, filed for a recount with the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office Monday afternoon. 

DiMartino narrowly placed fifth in a nine-candidate contest for four seats, losing to Republican Richard Beaudoin by just 17 votes. District 6 serves Gilford, Gilmanton and Laconia Ward 2. 

“I really didn’t plan on asking for a recount,” DiMartino said in a written statement. But after both voters and state Democratic Party leadership urged her to seek one, given both the closeness of her race and the razor-thin Republican lead in the Legislature, she reconsidered.

At least 31 recount requests have been submitted to the Secretary of State’s office, 28 of them in Statehouse races, according to the tally from the Secretary of State’s office. As of Tuesday evening, two Republican seats had already been flipped, bringing their House majority to just two seats, 201-199.

“I don’t suspect any type of fraud or issues and believe that overall our vote counts are accurate,” DiMartino said. “Therefore, I really don’t expect any significant swing in the vote count.”

Even with this faith, it wouldn’t be a stretch for DiMartino’s seat to flip. 

In one of the two seats already turned blue in recounts by Democrats, Maxine Mosley defeated Republican Larry Gagne by a margin of one vote after being down by a margin of 23 in the initial tally for the seat to Represent Manchester’s Ward 6.

Both DiMartino and Beaudoin are former state representatives, having served from 2012-2014 and from 2018-2020, respectively. Beaudoin, notably, won his seat representing Laconia in 2018 through the findings of a recount, after being down by 10 votes in the initial totals. 

Belknap 6 voters elected a straight Republican ticket to Concord, including State Senator-elect Tim Lang and Gov. Chris Sununu.

In her statement, DiMartino thanked the poll workers, her fellow candidates and the voters. With the current tally, she said, “I believe that between the primaries and general election, we now have many good representatives.”

An official time for the recount has not been released, but DiMartino said that the Secretary of State’s office has told her it will likely occur sometime Monday, Nov. 21. 

By end of day Tuesday, the first day of recounts, eight of the 28 requests had been completed, according to the schedule released by the Secretary of State’s office. Recounts are open to the public and take place at the State Archives Building in Concord.