Vigorous turnout for Tuesday's primary in Laconia, Meredith and Gilford

Parking lots at polling places in Gilford and Meredith were full on Tuesday, and Laconia’s polls, divided between its wards, were similarly busy as voters made their choice for which candidates should be granted their party’s nomination for the presidential election in November.

Voters who agreed to speak to a reporter listed several issues, including foreign policy and border security, economic concerns, health care, reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ protections, and a candidate’s track record, as motivating their choice.

Some voters reported supporting the presumed front-runners, President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump. However, there were several who also said they voted for Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations, who is challenging Trump for the Republican Party’s nomination. One voter said he used his vote to show appreciation for the campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who bowed out over the weekend.

Meredith

In Meredith, Michael Edgar said he was “not voting for Nikki Haley” after leaving the polls, located at the town’s Community Center. “I just thought Trump did a good job [as president], and I thought he would do another good job.”

Linda Moreau cast an opposing vote in favor of Haley. “I see that she’s able to get everything back to normal, the way it was,” Moreau said. “Hopefully she’ll do good by us. My main concern is that she’s able to get us back on an even keel.”

Lisa Faller said she voted for Trump, someone she said she’s supported for a long time. She listed border security and economics as her primary concerns. “I’m just worried about our country and the direction we’re going right this moment,” Faller said.

John Bird, who also listed border security as a concern, said Haley won his vote. “I’m a person that believes that a country doesn’t exist without a border,” he said, adding that he also was concerned about health care. “It’s time for us to have more of a type of health care that we can depend on.” Bird said he wasn’t sure about government-run health care, “but some kind of government assisted, or incentivized, health care,” he said.

Gilford

At Gilford’s polls, which were also at that town’s Community Center, the parking lot was full late in the morning.

Rosemary Shannon said she wrote in Joe Biden — the president's re-election campaign didn’t put his name on the ballot out of protest over New Hampshire’s refusal to adopt the Democratic National Committee’s preferred schedule of primaries — “Because I do believe that is the direction I want the country to go in.” Shannon listed gun safety, climate change, national debt and women’s reproductive rights as her top concerns. “I want my granddaughters to have the same rights, at least, that I have.”

Karen Thurston said, with her vote, she was “trying to make the most sense of what’s being said and who is going to lead us forward.” She said she was frustrated by the tone of some of the campaigns, and didn’t hear much attention placed on issues she felt were most pressing, such as drug misuse, homelessness, mental health, and affordable health insurance. “There are so many divisions, so many petty issues, the big stuff gets lost,” Thurston said.

Curtis Monier said he is registered undeclared, which in New Hampshire allows him to vote in either party’s primary, so he chose to take a Republican ballot and vote for Haley.

“I was voting against Donald Trump,” Monier said, explaining his greatest concerns were “equality, abortion rights, not having somebody going through federal courts as our president.”

Tuesday’s voting was a first for Richard Paddock, who was able to engage in the first-in-the-nation primary after recently moving to Gilford, along with his wife and two young children, from Tennessee. “We feel very fortunate to be part of it,” he said, noting he met DeSantis in person, who answered a question posed by one of his children.

Paddock listed his main concerns as inflation, the economy, education, protecting the border, and national security — not just strength, he said, but thoughtful policy. Even though DeSantis formally suspended his campaign on Sunday, Paddock said he still voted for him.

“We are deeply grateful for his campaign,” Paddock said about DeSantis, “It’s also a message to the Republican Party, that we are not going to just vote for Donald Trump.” Paddock said he wasn’t sure what he would do in the general election if Trump ended up his party’s nominee.

Laconia

At Laconia’s Ward 1 polling place, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Old North Main Street, both Patti and Peter Dreifus said they voted for Haley.

“For me, it was the Jan. 6 riot,” Patti said, “We don’t want any more of that.”

“Stop the chaos,” added Peter. “For me, I like a pragmatic approach to government, I want problems solved.”

“I want new leadership,” Patti said.

Gil Furnald was another Haley supporter. “Nikki Haley all the way,” as he put it. “I don’t want Trump at this point, I want Nikki to challenge him,” Furnald said, though he added he would vote for Trump if it were between him and Biden.

Lizzie Gillis said that after a crowded field just a few weeks ago, the primary on Tuesday felt “like the final four” in a playoff bracket. “The ones who get voted for today will be on the ballot in November.”

“As a voter, I am of the LGBTQ community, it’s important to have those rights with the person I’m voting for,” Gillis said.

For Jason Wylie, the motivation was economic. His choice went to the candidate he felt would uphold the constitution, and shape policies that would best benefit the middle class. Wylie said he wanted “to make sure that we get a changing of the guard. I’m a Republican voter, it was a hard decision.”