LACONIA — State Rep. Charlie St. Clair eked out a victory to win re-election in the House district representing Laconia and Belmont. The result, according unofficial returns, was 4,350 for St. Clair and 4,315 for his Republican challenger Steve Whalley.
It was St. Clair’s winning margin in Laconia that put him over the top, garnering 3,189 votes in the city to Whalley’s 2,852. Whalley topped St. Clair in Belmont, 1,463 votes to 1,161.
“I always thought it would be close,” St. Clair said. “It’s a difficult district for someone who’s a Democrat to run in,” he added.
It was a second time in just over a year that St. Clair and Whalley had faced off together. In a special election in September 2017, St. Clair flipped the seat from Republican to Democrat, defeating Whalley by a vote of 1,268 to 1,010.
The special election was held to fill the seat that had been held by Republican Robert Fisher, who resigned in a scandal over his creation of a website critical of women.
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