With few competitive races, voters hit the polls in city elections Tuesday

LACONIA — At cities across New Hampshire Tuesday, voters went to the polls with a platter of contested races for councils, school boards and mayorships.

Laconia was not one of them. 

In city elections for all six city council seats, the mayor’s office and two school board races, only one contest — the Ward 5 council seat — had more than one candidate.

Laconians who nevertheless turned out to the polls described their commitment to exercise their right to vote, regardless of the intensity of the election. Some emphasized the importance of weighing in on and staying in touch with local issues, while others acknowledged they turned out to vote on principle alone.

All of those interviewed outside the polls described themselves as committed, regular voters in all elections, city or otherwise. 

“It’s our duty,” Ward 1 resident Kim Dutile said, voting alongside her husband, Paul. “We always vote, always,” he said.

When it comes to local issues, voting is a primary way for residents to inform local government of where they stand, voters emphasized. 

“You don’t have a right to say you don’t like something,” Carol Deshaies of Ward 4 said, “if you don’t [vote].”

Even in races with only one candidate, Ward 3 poll worker Melissa McEvoy said, the number of votes a candidate receives — whether they have a competitor or not — can still be a telling indicator of whether residents approve of city government. If an unchallenged incumbent councilor, for example, receives 100 votes, McEvoy felt that meant a higher endorsement than if only 10 voted for them.

“Voting for someone, or not voting for them,” she said. “It’s how you hold them accountable.” 

Ward 4’s Pam Clark felt it was important to turn out for uncontested races as a show of solidarity for candidates who step forward to serve.

Clark also felt, though, that more residents should better keep in touch with local issues. 

“The city council is what runs the city,” she said. Clark, concerned about homelessness, has been following recent deliberations on the planning board about a potential housing development on Bay Street, which is in her ward.

Dave Ouellette, a candidate in the contested police commissioner's race, said he ran not because of an “agenda,” but as a way to walk the walk of civic engagement. 

If people care about local issues, they should find a way to be involved, he said. “It’s your city, it’s where you live. You should want it to be the best it can be.” 

Several voters said that, while they felt a civic responsibility to fill out a ballot in every election, they did not arrive at the polls with knowledge of exactly what they were voting for in each candidate.

“I’m not sure what we were even voting for, we just always vote,” Kim Dutile said. “There wasn’t a whole lot on the ballot.” Seeing the number of uncontested races, she also said, made her consider whether she should learn more about city politics.

Many of these voters said the lack of competition on the ballot did not concern them. Rather, they felt the lack of contested races communicated that residents were content with the status quo of local politics. 

It didn’t strike lifelong resident Jeffrey Ames as abnormal that the ballot was largely unchallenged. “It means there’s not a lot of controversy,” Ames said. 

“If people weren’t satisfied, there’d be other candidates,” Paul Dutile said.  

By contrast, LaToya Beck, who was the only candidate for the Ward 4 school board seat Tuesday, wondered how effectively officials could represent citizens when they were the only ones who stepped forward.

The last city election in 2021, The Daily Sun reported, had the highest number of contested races in 30 years. Mayor, four of the six council seats and two of the three school board races were competitive.

Turnout rates were not available by press time, but poll workers described a slow, if steady, trickle of voters during the day.