Voters talk research, PACs, and being undeclared in Gilford, Laconia, Belmont

Voters, candidates and campaign volunteers alike weathered the rain on Tuesday at polling places in Gilford, Belmont and Laconia Ward 2. The weather did not appear to dampen turnout for the state's primary election.

The Daily Sun asked voters about how they equipped themselves for this primary election, what factors they used to decide between candidates and why they turned out for the primary. 

Richard Savary of Belmont said that he participates regularly in primaries because of his undeclared status. 

“There’s so much division right now,” Savary said. “I’m in the middle.” As partisan polarization increases nationally and locally, Savary said it becomes increasingly important for independent voters to participate in primary elections.

"We need to make sure they're representing us, the people, and not just their parties,” he said. “It’s more important than ever.”

New Hampshire is known for its strong population of undeclared voters, who choose a ballot on primary day. Whichever ballot they choose becomes their registered party affiliation unless they re-register as unaffiliated after voting. 

Belknap County currently has a more robust and sizable Republican base than it does Democratic: the current county delegation is made up of only Republicans, and only the Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate was contested. Voters of all affiliations were interviewed for this story.

A need to prepare

In this primary, redistricting shook up which candidates, including incumbents, were running where, and the turmoil around Gunstock Mountain Resort has reminded citizens of how candidates within the same party, and with similar policy dispositions, can govern differently.

Both of these events may have led voters to inform their vote with more diligent research than usual. 

For learning about the candidates, some preferred to look at third-party sites including local, state and national news sources. Others preferred to rely on the candidates' own words, looking at personal websites or social media pages, and even calling candidates directly on the phone. Many mentioned doing online research, though it looked different for everyone. Many said they started with a simple Google search of each candidate, and explored from there. Many voters said they knew a plurality of candidates personally.

Some voters said that policy stances drove their research and selections. For those who highlighted topics other than Gunstock, national issues like border security and inflation were top of mind.

Others said it was the temperament and character of the candidates that proved pivotal.

John Perley of Laconia said he asked people who knew local candidates well to learn more about them as people.

“The [candidate] personalities now are ... less mellow than in previous years,” Perley said.

What turned out voters to the primary

The vast majority of voters interviewed were regular, if not lifelong, primary voters. 

Notably, most, but not all, of those who had previously spotty turnout said that the turmoil around Gunstock, and wanting to see change on the county delegation because of it, mobilized them.

Sharon Davis of Gilford said that the issue of Gunstock had turned her from an occasional primary voter into a regular one — for good.

“I’m not really good with the local stuff, usually,” Davis said. Now she is, and will remain, much more keyed in.

Bill McNamara of Belmont turned out in this primary to express that he wanted to see changeover on the county delegation after its tension with Gunstock. Unlike Davis, however, McNamara said this primary probably wouldn’t produce long-term primary engagement for him.

“Because I’m an Independent, I’m more concerned with the general election,” McNamara said. 

Jim McIntire held campaign signs outside the Gilford polling station for Sheriff Bill Wright, his personal friend, and congressional candidate Matt Mowers, who lives in Gilford. McIntire, who described himself as conservative, said he became more engaged in politics and primaries a few years ago because of a learning experience during voting.

“I forgot to re-register as undeclared once,” McIntire said. “And then I couldn’t vote in the primary that I wanted to.” This awoke him to the importance of voter attentiveness and informed participation.

“Benign neglect is not good for our system,” he said. 

Sean Murphy of Gilford held a full post of Democratic candidate campaign signs. There were very few contested, and even fewer competitive, races on the Democratic ballot in Belknap County. Murphy believed it was still important for Democrats to turn out, seeing participation as a vote in itself. 

“Even though there are no competitive races, I don’t want to see the complacency,” Murphy said. “People still need to participate.” 

PAC presence

Citizens for Belknap, a political action committee using endorsements in state and local races to accomplish its mission of replacing “radicals” on the county delegation with “reasonable” officials, offered voter guides outside each polling place, which listed its endorsements. The group leveraged the turmoil around Gunstock to build a following and encouraged voters to “remember this in November.”

Robert Pomeroy and Brian Strohm stood outside the Gilford Community Church doors. Pomeroy estimated that about a third to half of those voting were either interested in, accepted or already had a copy of the PAC’s “cheat sheet.” Strohm and Pomeroy both said Gunstock motivated them to support the group. 

Steve Buscemi, a Gunstock employee, took a brochure from Pomeroy and Strohm and asked each of them what they knew about the candidates. Buscemi, an undeclared voter, said that he is a regular at primaries, but that this cycle drew him out with renewed attention to each candidate as individuals.

“In the past I would just pull the [Republican] lever or the [Democrat] lever, depending on what I thought was fair at the time,” Buscemi said. “I had certain alliances with how things went, but I tried to be fair and open-minded.”

“Thank you for the voters guide, it was very helpful,” one Gilford voter said to the Citizens for Belknap volunteers after voting. “I didn’t follow it exactly, but it was very helpful.”

Citizens for Belknap was not the only PAC represented. Make Liberty Win — a national conservative PAC that has poured tens of thousands of dollars into Belknap County Delegation races, among others — sent young, male representatives to polling stations in Gilford and Laconia, also with endorsement brochures in hand.

Redistricting discontent in Laconia Ward 2

Voters at Laconia’s Ward 2 polling station expressed confusion and discontent at their ward's redistricting. Not only did Laconia redraw its ward lines following the 2020 census, but state legislature districts were reallocated earlier this year. Previous lines had all of Laconia’s six wards in one state legislative district, but this time Ward 2 was separated and put in a district with neighboring towns Gilford and Gilmanton.

This meant that many voters — both repeat and first-timers — did not know where they should go to vote or which candidates they would be voting on. 

Several of those arriving to the St. Andre Bassette Parish Hall polling station said they had gone to a different ward before being redirected. 

One voter, Shane Mckenzie, was upset to learn that he couldn’t legally vote for the candidate that had inspired him to vote in the first place.

Mckenzie recently moved to Laconia, but said he has never voted before. He turned out specifically to vote for Dawn Johnson, who is running in the state house district to represent Wards 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Mckenzie said he knows Johnson personally. He learned on primary day that he lived in Ward 2 and couldn’t vote for her.

“I just don’t believe in candidates, usually,” Mckenzie said. “I finally found one I believe in and now they tell me I can’t vote for her.”

He wrote in Johnson anyway, but said the disappointment had turned him off voting in future elections.

Of those who were aware of the district and ward changes, some were still either confused by or dissatisfied with being cut off from the rest of their city. 

“It’s a little weird,” said Perley. “I get they do it to balance population numbers, but why they picked Ward 2, I have no idea.”