Voters' voices: Democrats and independents explain their choices

Bernie Sanders

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who won the New Hampshire Primary vote four years ago, remained popular among Democrats and undeclared voters in the Lakes Region, even as he faced competition from a large field.

Ward 6 voter Marian Donahue said she voted for Bernie Sanders just as she did in the 2016 Presidential Primary. She got behind Sanders as soon as he entered the race last year.

“He has the people and what they want accomplished at heart,” she said, adding that she believed Sanders was the Democrat best equipped to fight corruption in government.

Troy and Jennica Lucas, business owners who recently relocated to Wolfeboro from Virginia, said they were ardent Sanders supporters during the 2016 cycle. They voted for him again this year, though they said they were torn between Bernie and Pete Buttigieg. “Financially, the country is doing well, but it’s not necessarily getting down to everyone. When we see friends working two or three jobs to make ends meet, this is a lot of the reason that we don’t continue to support what’s going on in D.C.,” Troy said.

Hannah Duquette, 21, of Franklin, and a Democrat, said she picked Bernie Sanders of Vermont because “I believe he’s been fighting for the right causes for 40 years.”  Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour ”might be a little too much, but I think he’s got the right idea. He believes in equality for all.  He cares about immigrants, LGBTQ, and the environment.  He wants what’s good for everybody.  He’s also the least corrupt.  He’s not being bought out by people.”

Phil Vaughan, 79, of Franklin, said he’s not a Democrat, but came to endorse Bernie Sanders. “I liked Buttegieg and Klobuchar, but I liked (Sanders) because he’s a scrapper, and because he’s 79 like me.  He’s not giving away $1000 a month like everyone else.”

Daniel Jordan, 67, of Tilton, is retired and voted for Sanders. “He’s not really a Democrat because I hate both parties. He has a health care plan, and he’ll stop all these wars.  Education is very important to him. He’ll get rid of those student loans. It won’t cost us anything if we get rid of all the foreign military bases we don’t need.  The cost is not the problem. Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon) makes $50 billion a year and he pays zero in taxes.”

Jessica DelGreco, 42, of Tilton, is a stay-at-home mom. “Donald Trump’s hatred and bigotry is not appealing to me.  I have a son with autism. Some things Trump has said and done have upset me. Bernie is more accepting of women, other cultures, and different types of people.”

Joe Biden

He was considered the frontrunner just a few months ago, and Joe Biden was hoping New Hampshire voters would soothe the blow he was dealt by Iowa voters.

He wasn’t optimistic, judging from the fact that Biden didn’t stick around for the post-election party, but he had supporters throughout the region.

Warren Sommer, an independent voter from Laconia’s Ward 3, said he voted for Joe Biden because of the former vice president’s experience in government and his stand on climate change and commitment to rejoin the Paris Climate Treaty.

Pat Leroux, who lives in Laconia’s Ward 6, said she voted for Biden because he exhibits the “morals and standards” she wants to see in a president. Leroux said she voted for Trump four years ago, but “went Democrat quickly” after the president took office.

Shirley Ganem, of Wolfeboro, said that the sheer number of candidates competing for her vote began to keep her up at night, so a few weeks ago she resolved to “vote for somebody that I trusted, somebody that I had known for a while,” so she cast her vote for Joe Biden. “I hope the best man wins, since there isn’t a stronger woman running, that I saw.”

Greg Hughes of Belmont said he voted for Bernie Sanders last time, but this year it’s Joe Biden. “I just think he will be a great leader who supports my particular issues,” he said.

Pete Buttigieg

Melinda Provencher, a Pete Buttigieg supporter, was standing with a Donald Trump supporter outside the polls in New Hampton on Tuesday, holding signs for their respective candidates and chatting amiably.

“I’ve gotten attitudes all morning, negative,” said the Trump supporter, who declined to identify herself. “I’m like, it’s OK to have different opinions. Finally when I said that, the guy turned around and said, ‘Good morning,’ and I said thank-you,” said the Trump supporter.

Melinda’s mother, Patricia Provencher, 89, is a Pete Buttigieg delegate. She took a break from selling baked goods in support of the Ruth S. Joyce Scholarship Fund.

“I’ve seen Mayor Pete 11 or 12 times. I’m going to see him tonight, when the count comes in, in Nashua,” Patricia Provencher said. “He is so sincere. He has his rules of the road. One thing that I really pick out of there is honesty and he certainly is honest and he brings a lot of joy to people. He has well-thought-out programs that he wants to implement. He knows he can’t do everything by himself and he surrounds himself with very knowledgeable young people. They’re just a pleasure to be around. They have inspired people from all over the country to come as barnstormers to come and campaign for him. I think that speaks a lot for him.”

Eric Taussig, in Moultonborough, said he’s been in Pete Buttigieg’s camp for the past two months. “I wanted a real stable genius,” he said. “Honestly, I think he has the highest I.Q. Obviously, there are other people that are running who are smart, such as Warren, but I didn’t think she had much simpatico.” He said he also liked Bernie Sanders, but didn’t think he could win the White House because of the socialism tag. “Trump would make mincemeat of Sanders,” Taussig said.

Tom Seigle, of Ward 1 in Laconia, said he voted for Pete Buttigieg because of his calm, level-headed demeanor. “I think he’s the one who can pull this country back together.”

Charlie Buuck, a 70-year-old farmer from Meredith, said the age of many candidates turned him away. “I’m a contemporary of a lot of the older ones. I said, ‘I’m too old, they’re too old.’” When he started researching the younger candidates, he said he was impressed by Pete Buttigieg’s policies, so that’s who he voted for.

Meredith resident Elizabeth Reed, 79 years old, said that there were several candidates on the Democratic ballot that she liked, but she made up her mind on the morning of Election Day that if the race were to come down between Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, she wanted her vote to break the tie in favor of the former South Bend, Indiana mayor. “I’ve liked him from the very beginning, when I first heard him.” Reed praised Buttigieg’s “middle-of-the-road, great ideas. I think he’ll be good.”

Grisana Sleeper, another Meredith resident in her 70s, said she voted for Pete Buttigieg. She said that she liked many of the candidates, but that a couple of days prior to voting day, she decided to support a candidate who represented a “young, new generation.”

Sarah Dunlap, a health science student at Northeastern University in Boston, said she came back to Sandwich on Tuesday to cast her vote for Pete Buttigieg. “I like his health policy,” she said.

Also in Sandwich, Chris Read said he had to take a Republican ballot because of his party registration – “but I wrote in for Mayor Pete,” he said. “I’m appalled at the present situation, like half of the country,” and said he couldn’t support President Donald Trump, so he wanted to express his support for one of the other candidates. Of Buttigieg, Read said, “I guess I just like him the best.”

In Alton, Grace Nason, 18, cast her first-ever vote for Pete Buttigieg. The most important issue for her is the climate, she said, and she liked how seriously Buttigieg spoke about that issue. “Right now, there’s a lot of people denying that there is an issue. We need someone in power, in control, who understands that this is an issue.” Nason also liked Tulsi Gabbard, but added, “it also comes down to who could beat the Republican candidate.”

Deb Blomquist, 62, of Franklin, is a full-time family caregiver and a Democrat. She said she voted for Buttegeig. “I want a more united country.  We bicker like children in Congress. It’s ridiculous.  I originally was for Biden because of experience, then Tom Steyer for climate control.  But after seeing Pete on The View, he answered questions without name calling.  He was calm and collected.  We’re not going to get anywhere acting like children and countries aren’t going to respect us.”

Katie Gray, 69, of Tilton, works as the receptionist at the Boys and Girls Club in Laconia, and is an independent voter who chose Buttegeig over other Democrats. “I think he’s the one that can beat Trump. His talk of unifying the country is really important. We need to get ourselves together. The saving of Medicare and the support of disabled people, that’s important to me.”

Doug Martin, 57, a Tilton Democrat who opted for Buttageig, said, “I like his military service and his education. Being a Rhodes Scholar is nothing to sneeze at. He’s not too liberal and he’s moderate enough to be a true bipartisan leader. All the other candidates have valid ideas, but he’s the best in-between. He’s all-inclusive given his lifestyle.  He’s not racist and he’s well-spoken.”

Amy Klobuchar

Marcia Feener, 78, a retired training consultant who lives in Franklin, found qualities to admire in Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. “I was looking for someone who is calm and deliberate and doesn’t get all riled up.  Someone who knows how to bring people together.”

Mike Landroche, 61, of Tilton, an English teacher and a Democrat, also voted for Klobuchar. “She’s a moderate and she’s a woman and I see in her some power to confront our president. My issues are number one, climate change, number two, health care. She hasn’t been as vocal on climate, but she’s paying attention to science. More than anything, it’s her ability to beat our president in the general election and I think she can.”

Jean Knox, in Sandwich, said she “waffled for a bit” between two candidates, decided two weeks ago to vote for Amy Klobuchar after she saw her speak in Wolfeboro. Knox, who recently moved from Massachusetts, said she was relishing the opportunity to take part in the first-in-the-nation primary. “As a New Hampshire resident, you begin to take your vote very seriously.”

In Wolfeboro, Alexis Wallace said that Klobuchar’s experience in the Senate was the deciding factor for her. “She knows the world of politics, she has a record of working across the aisle,” and she appreciated Klobuchar’s demeanor. “She seems to be a kind person, caring.”

An undeclared Canterbury couple took Democratic ballots this year, saying their chief concern was to get someone who can beat Donald Trump. They chose Klobuchar but said they were tempted to write in Michael Bloomberg.

Similarly, another voter who declined to give her name said she decided just the day before to vote for Amy Klobuchar. “It was between her and Bernie, and it was head versus heart. I went with my head because I want to be sure she stays in the race, and I think that Bernie will definitely be continuing in the race, and so, if we go to a moderate candidate, it would be her. … I’m on the whole a progressive.”

Klobuchar also was another woman’s choice: “I was a little puzzled today about how I was going to vote,” she said. “I decided it’s Amy Klobuchar. I think she has the best chance of unifying and bringing things back to where they should be.”

Elizabeth Warren

Adam Heard, in Sandwich, said he decided the night before the election to cast his vote for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. “I’ve been thinking long and hard about it.”

He said he was initially considering voting for a candidate he deemed most likely to defeat Trump, “but in the end, I voted my ideals: Get corruption out of government, help the middle class, address climate change. Not necessarily in that order.” He chose Warren, he said, “predominantly because I feel like she’s done it before, and, secondly, she’s the least corrupted of them all.”

Anne Emerson and her husband, David, spent time holding a sign for Elizabeth Warren outside the Canterbury Elementary School. Anne said she has supported Warren for years, since she took on Wells Fargo. “That’s the kind of thing she does,” Anne said. A retired teacher, she said she’s concerned about combating climate change and she thinks Warren is up to the task.

Another woman said she chose Elizabeth Warren for several reasons: Her stance on economic policy, driven by income inequality; she’s a woman, and even though she thought six months ago that a woman could not win, people have said, “Pay close attention to her,” said the woman, who didn’t want to give her name.

•••

This story was compiled by reporters Roberta Baker, Thomas P. Caldwell, Adam Drapcho, Rick Green and Michael Mortensen.